Experience Louisiana Festival II

The second Experience Louisiana Festival opened Saturday morning with nearly a redo of last year’s inaugural with crisp temperatures and a brilliant blue sky. 
The crowd also was building as a New Orleans-style second line parade led by the Hacienda Brass Brass from the Crescent City formed in the Artists’ Village. 
The festival grounds at LSUE are organized into villages and the second line parade began in the Artists’ Village and ended at the main music stage for an opening ceremony. 
Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser was on hand to march, throw beads in the parade and participated in the opening ceremony. And, perhaps in the spirit of the event, Nungesser made a beeline to the Louisiana Pie Peddlers for a fried pie after the ceremonies ended. 
“This is one of the festival that really shows the unique culture of Louisiana with all those special dishes,” Nungesser said. “This is what Louisiana is all about. With over 400 festivals, my goal is to get to them all one day. So, I’m checking them off my list.”
As the chief of tourism for the state, Nungesser said, “We’ve got to do a better job of promoting these festivals because that is something unique about Louisiana that you won’t get anywhere else.” 
Last year there were 28.9 million visitors to the state who left behind $845 million in taxes, he said. For every dollar the state spends on tourism it receives $38 in revenues, he said. 
Lance Hatten, superintendent of the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve, returned to the festival with the National Park Service as a sponsor. 
“This year the National Park Service is celebrating its centennial and with that we acknowledge the important work that we do in preserving America’s most beautiful places through the 413 sits we care for,” Hatten said. “But this event is special for the Park Service because it gives an opportunity to work beyond our boundaries and to connect with communities where people live. We are really excited about our support and we figure this no better way to celebrate the special culture and sense of community that Louisianians have than to be right here at the Experience Louisiana Festival.” 
Jaime Gomez, of Eunice, whose company, Excel Fire Protection Systems, of Carencro, expressed excitement at being the festival’s presenting sponsor for one reason. He calls Eunice his hometown. 
Eunice Mayor Scott Fontenot, speaking at the opening ceremony, said, “I think it is only going to get better from here.”
The festival reopens at 10 a.m. today with a game of p´etanque, a French lawn game. 
And at 10:30 a.m. the official opening occurs with the band, Sabra and the Get Rights. 
Todd Ortego, of KBON radio, who is the weekend festival emcee, said people should come to the festival today, “because we can’t guarantee what the Saints are going to do, but we can guarantee you’ll have a dang good time at the Experience Louisiana Festival on Sunday on the grounds of LSUE.”
The festival is a project of the Eunice Rotary Club with a primary goal of funding scholarships at Louisiana State University Eunice. 
Festival overview
The second Experience Louisiana Festival is modeled much like the first festival held in October 2015. 
The following are the main areas of the festival.
FOLKLIFE VILLAGE: Coordinated by the National Park Service, the 2016 festival will feature more than 25 folk demonstrators, such as boat building, Native American folk crafts, Mardi Gras mask making, musical instrument making, weaving and many others.  The beauty of this component is its simplicity:  folk artists at work, communicating with festival guests by telling stories, answering questions and sharing tradition in a personal way.  Folklife Village is a core component of the festival as organizers place a high value on the preservation, promotion and documentation of Louisiana folk art and crafts.
MUSIC STAGE: Features great Louisiana musical talent.  Eunice’s own Todd Ortego serves as emcee on stage throughout the weekend.  Bands representing several musical genres (e.g. traditional Cajun, Zydeco, Country & Western, Bluegrass, etc.) entertain festival guests.
MUSICIANS’ VILLAGE: Hosted by the Cajun French Music Association (CFMA) Acadiana Chapter featuring scheduled and impromptu jam sessions throughout the weekend.  CFMA will host jams which include its own members as well as invited musical groups of all ages.  The village provides an opportunity for musicians to jam together, networking, share stories and learn from one another.
ARTIST VILLAGE: Hosted by the Eunice Community Art House and features the work of Louisiana artists from a wide variety of genres and mediums – including folk art, classical art, pottery, glass, photography and more.  Artist Village will also have many activities for children throughout the weekend.
WALK-THROUGH LOUISIANA: The walk-through is a unique and exciting element of the festival.  This area affords communities, parishes, tourist centers, festivals, and regional entities the ability to showcase themselves in whatever manner they choose — as simple as setting up a table with brochures, or as elaborate as sharing food samples, hosting musicians from their region, etc.
Participating entities will be part of a walk-through exhibit, allowing festival attendees to stroll through Louisiana, meeting people from various regions, learning about events and opportunities, and hopefully making a tourism “to-do” or “bucket” list for the future.
CRAFT VILLAGE: Hosted by the Louisiana Crafts Guild, Craft Village is dedicated to featuring authentic, Louisiana crafts. 
FILM VILLAGE: Hosted by filmmaker Pat Mire and Cinema on the Bayou. Louisiana films are featured throughout the weekend, often with the filmmaker present, sharing dialogue with guests following the showing of their work. Films are shown in the west auditorium of the Community Education Building (adjacent to the festival grounds)..
FOOD VILLAGE: Restaurants, organizations, and individuals selling a delicious variety of cuisine!  Features a wide variety of Louisiana cuisine, ranging from backbone stew to poboys, cracklins and boudin to gumbo. 
ATHLETIC EVENTS:  Cameron’s Shoes Foundation hosted a 5k Run on Saturday morning. The LSUE athletic program is holding baseball and softball games on Saturday and Sunday.