On October 1, Iberville Parish Tourism will hold the seventh annual Swamp Life Expo. Beginning at 10 am, under the live oaks outside the Welcome Center in Grosse Tete, local folks will share the sights, sounds, and tastes of the culture of the swamplands of South Louisiana. Organizer John Clark, formerly the environmental manager of the parish, was a natural choice to spearhead the festival; originally from Denham Springs, he married a local woman and has come to appreciate the local culture with an outsider’s eye. When it’s sometimes difficult to see what’s special or unique about your own culture—after all, it’s just what you do—the perspective of an enthusiastic newcomer can help identify aspects the world needs to see. Parish President J. Mitchell Ourso, Jr. realized that Iberville Parish is a gateway to the Atchafalaya Basin, and welcomed the idea to showcase the history of the Atchafalaya Swamp.
The Swamp Life Expo showcases the food, music, crafts, and even animals of this little piece of South Louisiana—live frogs, gars, turtles, and even an alligator will be on display to represent the wildlife of the area. Above all, though, this festival highlights the local people and their resilience, people who had to learn how to make a living in this swampy place and still find time to have fun. The festival exhibitors, all local, will be demonstrating cultural traditions that have been passed down for generations; it is an in depth-look at a way of life that is completely unique in the world.
Even now that the Swamp Life Expo welcomes up to eight hundred people, there’s still plenty to eat and chances to meet and talk with the craft demonstrators. And for local people, this is a chance to celebrate their culture and make sure that young people in the area understand and feel pride for their forebears. For the rest of us, it’s an opportunity to understand swamp life from the people who live and breathe it—and have for generations.
The event is free and open to the public; Just get yourself to Grosse Tete and be ready to learn, explore, eat, and dance. visitiberville.com/iberville-swamp-life-expo.
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