LAFAYETTE, La. — Downtown Lafayette is preparing to host one of the city’s largest annual events, Festival International de Louisiane.
With new bollards recently installed throughout the area, officials are ramping up with other security efforts at the event.
Scott Feehan, executive director of Festival International for the past 10 years, said planning for public safety starts months in advance.
“There’s no other event that has as robust of a security plan as Festival International,” Feehan said. “We work for months on this every single year. Normally, we do a recap after Festival to take notes and figure out and get a head start on adjustments for the following year.”
Sergeant Matthew Benoit with the Lafayette Police Department said you can expect to see a visible police presence.
“Festival goers will see explosive detection canine teams that will be coming in,” Benoit said. “They are going to be out there kind of assisting us with those needs to make sure everyone feels comfortable, everyone feels safe—and identify areas that we can’t necessarily see.”
Not only will the ground be covered but the air, too. LPD will be using aerial surveillance during the event.
“We do bring a lot of special equipment. We have a lot of cameras in the area, we have drone teams. You are going to see some police drones in the area—lots of things that we put into place to overall increase that public safety,” Benoit said.
Ross Fontenot, owner of Genterie Supply and Company in downtown Lafayette, said the additional measures offer peace of mind.
“I think for the most part Lafayette is a safe area—even Downtown Lafayette. Obviously, when you get more people, things can happen, but overall, so many precautions have been taken. People should be comfortable with that,” he said.
As the city prepares to welcome thousands for the 39th annual Festival International, LPD ensures public safety remains its top priority.
“We put so much emphasis on our large-scale events here in Lafayette. We have a lot of them—we have Mardi Gras, Festival International. That’s our number one priority: public safety. Especially with events like this, we put a huge emphasis on making it as safe as humanly possible,” Benoit said.
Click here to see everything you need to know about the festival.
