Local festivals team up for large free arts celebration featuring Tab Benoit

Correction: The Voice of the Wetlands event is remaining separate, but sponsored the stage for the event.

Main Street in Houma will be closed Saturday as many downtown Houma events are teaming up for one large celebration of the arts.

Explore Houma and the Bayou Regional Arts Council are teaming up Oct. 28 to create the Bayou Arts Fest, an art, music and cultural festival that will span a four-block-by-two-block area of downtown Houma.

The free event is from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Main Street, beginning at the Centennial Plaza, stretching just past the water fountain. Main Street will be closed to vehicular traffic during the event.

There will be three different locations of live music from 11 bands, culinary demonstrations, cultural demonstrations and more.

"It's like all the entities collaborating together to build something bigger," Community Development Coordinator Whitney Bergeron said.

The Voice of the Wetlands stage will be near the fountain and will have live music from 10 a.m. until 10 p.m., closing with Tab Benoit, who starts at 8:30 p.m.

The Courthouse Bandstand will have story telling and songwriter sessions sprinkled in with live music, such as Nonc Nu and da Wild Matous. It begins at 10 a.m., with the last act opening at 4:30 p.m.

The food court will not only be a place to pick meals, but will feature a cooking demonstration from Jason Derouen, The Cajun Ninja, and the Benoit Brothers.

"We are so thankful to have this collaboration with Explore Houma and Voice of the Wetlands," Executive Director of the Bayou Regional Arts Council Genie Ardoin said. "We are also honored to have some of our local tradition bearers come out for cultural demonstrations to show how important it is to carry on those skills and to have the Finding Our Roots Museum present."

Cultural demonstrations will be held along Main Street and include: corn husk dolls, basket weaving and crafting of shrimping nets, Bergeron said. There also will be a children's section that will include a petting zoo, inflatable slide and more.

Throughout the festival, the White Boot Stroll will be moving like a guided tour to different points of interest. These include the Fine Arts Guild, Bloom West Boutique, Lumiere, Bayou Terrebonne Distillers, the Elks Lodge, passing by the 64 venders and more.

This article originally appeared on The Courier: Tab Benoit headlines Houma arts celebration as local festivals team up