BOBBY ARDOIN
Editor and Contributing Writer
Photograph: St. Landry Parish President Jessie Bellard.
St. Landry Parish president Jessie Bellard thinks it’s time for parish residents to re-engage in a celebration and the parish government party he plans to sponsor is scheduled to accomplish that beginning Friday night.
Bellard has organized a three-day free event packed with music, games, cooking and carnival rides as a way for St. Landry residents to meet and enjoy a festive Fourth of July atmosphere at the Yambilee Grounds west of the Opelousas corporate limits.
“I thought it was time that the parish had a get together and get back to holding events like we had in the past. What we thought we would do is create a parish fair type of event with the carnival rides, music and food. Then on Sunday we wanted to bring in the Fourth with a fireworks display,” Bellard said.
Last year parish government sponsored a fireworks event. This year Bellard said, he wanted to enlarge the event to include a number of other opportunities for people to mingle and enjoy the events that will be available to them.
“We have been planning this since January. What we are setting out to do is have an event for everyone, the adults and the kids of the parish. Everything is in line right now, the rides are setting up (on Wednesday) and on Friday we start with the music when we open up and begin letting people in. We are also going to have competitive cooking, so we will see how that turns out,” Bellard said.
EVENTS SCHEDULE
This Fourth of July weekend, make plans for live local music, carnival rides, a barbecue cook-off, and a large firework display. The festival will run from July 1 through July 3, 2022.
Located at the Yambilee Grounds (1939 W. Landry St. Opelousas, LA), the St. Landry BBQ Festival will host a fun, family friendly event. Activities consist of carnival rides, petting zoo, local bands, food, mechanical bull, cook-off and so much more.
The band line up for the weekend is as follows:
Friday, July 1, 2022:
6:00 pm – Hunter Courville & the Cajun Fever
8:00 pm – Hotline
10:00 pm – Leon Chavis
Saturday, July 2, 2022:
11:00 am – Leroy Thomas
1:00 pm – Mike Broussard
3:30 pm – Wayne Singleton
7:00 pm – Chee Weez
10:30 pm – Jeremy Fruge & the Zydeco Hotboyz
Sunday, July 3, 2022:
11:30 am – Alex Touchet
1:00 pm – Rusty Metoyer
3:30 pm – Jamie Bergeron
6:00 pm – Dustin Sonnier
Immediately following Dustin Sonnier will be our firework show to end the festival.
The festival will officially begin at 6:00 pm on Friday, July 1, 2022. Come enjoy carnival rides, local vendors, and some great music performed by Hunter Courville and Hotline, and Leon Chavis! We will also have a petting zoo and more kid-friendly activities.
Saturday, the festival will open at 10:00 am and will feature the same activities and music by the Chee Weez, Jeremy Fruge, Wayne Singleton, Mike Broussard, and Leroy Thomas.
Sunday will begin at 10:00 am and will feature the same activities. Additionally, we will host a BBQ Cook Off for a trophy and special prize. Dust off your grills and put your flipping skills to the test! We will also have live music starting at 11:30am featuring Alex Touchet, Rusty Metoyer, Jamie Bergeron, and Dustin Sonnier. To close the festival off, there will be a large firework show at dusk.
Come down to St. Landry Parish and kick off your Fourth of July weekend with bang!
For Cookoff information, visit our website at st.landrybbqfestival.com.
For additional information call Layne at 337-948-3688 ext. 1712.
