Photo courtesy of Atelier de la Nature.
Art installation at the 2022 Halloween Art and Nature Festival by Carey Hamburg. Volunteers to this year's Decoration Parties will have the opportunity to assist with projects like this one.
The folks at Atelier de la Nature in Arnaudville invite creatives and crafters to “join the dark side,” to help prepare for the 2026 Halloween Art and Nature Festival, themed: “Creatures of the Night.”
The free festival, which takes place annually at the nature reserve/STEAM education center founded by Dr. Brandon Ballengée and Aurore Ballengée in Arnaudville, draws on the whimsy and weirdness of the Halloween season to inspire an over-the-top festival that features immersive installations, performances, and hands-on art-science activities. Events and installations are presented in collaboration with local and national organizations including Acadiana Master Naturalists, Fluker’s Cricket Farm, Louisiana Amphibian and Reptile Enthusiasts, Louisiana Master Naturalists, the TECHE Project, the West Baton Rouge Museum, and others.
Taking place from 10 am–10 pm on Halloween, this year’s festival will feature twenty-five site-specific installations assembled by local and visiting artists. Among them are Ellen Denham’s Swampera (an experimental opera featuring local musicians like Dustin Gaspard and Corey Ledet), Molly Jo Shea’s Crawdessy (a performance inspired by crawfish) and “Mud Bug Graveyard” installation, community healing workshops presented by Li(sa E.) Harris and local traiteurs, Quintron’s “Frog Phone,” which tunes into the conversations of amphibians on the Atelier de la Nature property, Dana Sherwood’s ritualized dinner parties prepared for nocturnal creatures, and lots more. For full immersion, guests are encouraged to pitch a tent, and to come in costume.
The broader Louisiana community is welcome to get involved—working directly with many participating artists, and bringing their own ideas to the Atelier. Each Sunday in October, the Ballengées will host Halloween Decoration Parties, to which the public is invited to help conceive of and build out props, decorations, and installations using repurposed and recycled materials—helping to bring the stuff of the Halloween Art and Nature Festival to life.
“Some people just come to help, and we can give them jobs,” said Brandon. “Some people come with ideas and we can help work with them to realize those. There’s no real agenda, except to hang out, be creative, and have fun. There’s always music, the kids run feral, you meet a bunch of creative, interesting people. And we have lots of food.”
Decoration Parties take place on October Sundays from 11 am–4 pm at 1050 Andrew Gautreaux Road, Arnaudville. Come for a few hours or for the day, and come hungry. Register (for free) for the parties or for the festival at the Atelier de la Nature Eventbrite page.
More details at atelierdelanature.org.
