re: Lake Charles "Postpones" Decades Old Festival

quote:

---

There are just too many other festivals of that size

---

This has gotten many festivals over the years. In North La the Louisiana Arts & Folk Festival was a massive draw for decades. Over the course of that festival weekend it would draw well over 50k-75k people into tiny Columbia, La. There would be live music, cane syrup being pressed and made, quilting, woodworking, art, food, etc. It was a great time.

At one point it had gotten so large that a smaller, similar festival began just a few miles up the road (on the same weekend). Even it became so popular that it eventually required police presence to direct traffic (Hwy 165 was only two lanes at that time).

Eventually, other areas around the state saw this success and began running their own festivals. Around this time there was a change in management which began raising booth fees and basically telling vendors that if they didn't like it they could go elsewhere (still running on the mindset of being the only game in town).

These days it still goes on, but instead of being spread out over 2.5-3 days, needing school buses to bring people back and forth from their parking spots over a mile away and covering a few acres, now it's relegated to only one day and is held downtown.