St. Francisville Festivals and Events

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Apr. 2020

St. Francisville in the Time of Covid-19

By Anne Butler

So, in this scary time of social distancing and sheltering in place, some of us are using the downtime to reconnect with family and commune with nature, exercising and eating sensibly. Others, not so much…our only exercise is jogging to the icebox and getting lazier by the minute; we’ll be sorry when we have to give up our comfy pants and PJs for clothes with belts or waistbands. And it’s far from funny, but there are times when humor and prayer are our only comforts, and Lord knows there’s some hysterical stuff on social media these days.

We’ve been down this road before. A wonderful fact-filled article by that esteemed historian/author Brian James Costello of Pointe Coupee, just across the Mississippi River from St. Francisville and thus experiencing similar trials and tribulations, examines the historical antecedents of the Covid-19 Pandemic through the early years of constant floods and epidemics which plagued the area. There were 18 major river floods from 1770 through 1927; he reminds us that the disastrous 1882 flooding of the Mississippi River put four feet of water on Main Street in New Roads and five feet in St. Mary’s Cemetery, necessitating that Mrs. Philogene Langlois’ funeral procession proceed by boat and her remains had to be entombed in the uppermost vault). There were also numerous disastrous outbreaks of yellow fever, cholera, typhoid fever and influenza. The 1918 Influenza Pandemic, according to New Orleans and Baton Rouge newspapers of the time, reported 245,000 flu cases throughout Louisiana, resulting in over 5,000 deaths.

Mar. 2020

Something Old and Something New at St. Francisville’s popular Audubon Pilgrimage

By Anne Butler

The forty-ninth annual Audubon Pilgrimage March 20, 21 and 22, 2020, celebrates a southern spring in St. Francisville, the glorious garden spot of Louisiana’s English Plantation Country. For nearly half a century the sponsoring West Feliciana Historical Society has thrown open the doors of significant historic structures to commemorate artist-naturalist John James Audubon’s 1821 stay as he painted a number of his famous bird studies and tutored the daughter of Oakley Plantation’s Pirrie family, beautiful young Eliza.

Two venerable townhouses in St. Francisville’s National Register-listed downtown Historic District are featured on this year’s pilgrimage. Amidst meandering Royal Street’s significant treasures is Prospect, built in 1809; during Audubon’s tenure it was occupied by Dr. Isaac Smith, early physician, LA State Senate president and great advocate of higher education. Another public-service minded figure, Dr. O.D.Brooks, purchased Prospect in 1879. As a 16-year-old boy he saw Civil War action alongside his father, owned the Royal Hotel, had a pharmacy, and served on the School Board for three decades, facilitating establishment of the parish’s first public school.

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Festival List

Festival

Walker Percy Weekend

Good food, craft beer and bourbon, live music, and a great time talking about books and Southern culture under the live oaks: That's what the Walker Percy Weekend has to offer when it returns to celebrate the acclaimed novelist's life and work.

Festival

The Day the War Stopped

Each year in June, the beautiful Louisiana town of St. Francisville remembers a day of peace that took place there in the midst of one of the bloodiest months of the Civil War.

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Feliciana Hummingbird Celebration

The Feliciana Nature Society will hold their annual Feliciana Hummingbird Celebration in St. Francisville, Louisiana. The Feliciana Hummingbird Celebration promotes the unique breeding habitat found in the St. Francisville area. The event provides the opportunity to observe hummingbirds up close as they are banded at two private homes in the St. Francisville area. Hummingbird-friendly plants will also be available for sale.

Festival

Polos and Pearls

The evening promises to put a little sizzle into summer by pairing popular shops with the area’s finest eateries, local artisans and musicians. Trolley transportation will link the featured locations along Commerce, Ferdinand and Royal Streets, and each retail outlet is offering special red-hot deals to draw customers to the downtown area to shop in the cool of the evening.

Festival

Southern Garden Symposium

Annual tradition for garden enthusiasts from across the south. With featured speakers, no other gardening program brings together top quality speakers and historic plantation settings as well as the Southern Garden Symposium in St. Francisville, Louisiana. Known as much for its engaging social events and historic venues as for its outstanding gardening lectures and workshops, ....

Festival

Yellow Leaf

Art, music and lots of fun is the Yellow Leaf festival held each fall. Vendors are setup in Parker Park with musicians playing through out the festival.

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Angola Rodeo

The Angola Rodeo, the longest running prison rodeo in the nation, is held twice a year, in the spring and fall.. The Spring rodeo normally being in the third weekend in April and the Fall rodeo every Sunday in October.

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Christmas in the Country

Christmas in the Country is held on the first full weekend in December each year. Features: a small-town parade, peep-show of Christmas decorated homes, breakfast with Santa and much more.