Cotton Festival
to
North Side Civic Center 704 North Soileau Street, Ville Platte, Louisiana 70586
Going strong since the early 1950s, Ville Platte's Cotton Festival, so named for the Delta and Pine Land Cotton raised there, features all the fun of a typical small-town fest. It all kicks off on Tuesday evening with the annual Contradanse, featuring live music by Lennis Soileau & the Friendly Cajuns and young dancers performing the traditional two step. Le Roi et La Reine from the local nursing home will be crowned at the event. 6:30 pm. $5, $2 for children five years and younger. The fun continues throughout the week, with a food fest, a pet show, a fais do-do street dance with performances from Trevor Causey and Geno Delafose & French Rockin' Boogie, a "Grand Parade of Cotton," and more. It all closes out with Le Tournoi at 3 pm Sunday. The ancient jousting sport, first played by French knights and later brought to Louisiana by its French settlers used to battle the seven banes of cotton—boll-worm, boll-weevil, flood, drought, rayon, nylon, and silk. Check out the plans for this year's food, fais do-do, carnival, and parade at louisianacottonfestival.com.