Bear Festival makes its way through a rough weekend

“I’m glad this weekend’s over!” was how Bayou Teche Black Bear Festival organizer Edgar Dugas III summed up the 12th annual event.
“It was all about the weather,” Dugas said. “Even though the reports were horrible and some of what we wanted to do was either canceled or scaled back due to bad conditions, we are very pleased with the turnout under these circumstances.”
The weather cleared up enough for a Friday night opening with music from Driftood and Crossfyre.
Rain began again that night and early Saturday morning, continuing until midmorning, forcing cancellation of the Teche Action Clinic 5K Run/Walk.
The Bayou Teche Wooden Boat Show had already been called off Thursday morning due to the unique conditions of wooden watercraft in such weather.
But Saturday provided a reprieve, despite rain later in the day. “We were able to get a full lineup of bands in, the boat tours on the refuge stayed booked, vendors said they did okay considering the circumstances,” Dugas said. “As usual I met people literally from all over the world that said they will be back to Franklin because they loved what they saw. The committee is already planning next year’s event and looking forward to seeing everyone April 15-17, 2016.”