Festival caught up on activities Monday

With out-of-town guests taking their leave, the festival was turned over to locals for its final day on Monday..
“We had good weather. I always say the last day of the festival is a local day … and we had that yesterday,” Lee Delaune, festival director, said.
Delaune described Monday as “a wrap down day. Everybody’s kind of mellow. We had the bands in the park (that) were pretty much Cajun zydeco. People were asking for that, and I think we delivered that for them,” he said.
Many families were in attendance early in the day Monday, but that number tapered off as the day wore on.
Nathalie Weber, festival board president, said “there was rain in other parts of the city but not at the festival.”
Children’s Village was open, which it typically is not on the Monday. That event and the children’s parade were postponed until Monday because of the rain Saturday.
“There was a little bit of a crowd early when we opened, but it dwindled fast,” Delaune said of Monday’s festival.
He indicated it is unlikely the children’s events will be extended to the Monday of the festival on a permanent basis.
“It’s not that we make any money on it anyway. We give children tons of toys and prizes. It’s not to recoup money. That’s strictly for the children,” Delaune explained.
Similarly, there was a good crowd for bracelets early, he said. It is strictly up to the carnival company to decide when to offer pay-one-price bracelets, Delaune said.
Craft show vendors are given the option to close shop around 3 p.m. on the final day because many are coming from out of state.
“We do give them the option. We would love them to stay, but we know they have to get home or to another show,” the director said, adding that there was still a good crowd under the bridge late Monday afternoon.
Meanwhile, food vendors under the bridge and at Lawrence Park stayed until the festival officially closed at 9 p.m.
Everything has to be out of the park and from under the U.S. 90 bridge by Wednesday morning. If not, vendors are assessed a fee.
Weber said the “vendors were happy. The carnival was pleased with his results. Right now we’re just talking to everyone and trying to wrap things up.”
Delaune said the City of Morgan City has been helpful to the festival.
“Everybody works well together. By Thursday or Friday of this week you’ll never know there was a festival here in Morgan City. It may take a little longer this year because of the rain, but by the end of the week it’ll be back to normal.”
Morgan City Mayor Frank “Boo” Grizzaffi said he thought the festival “went flawless. Security worked out real well. Sanitation did its job. The rain didn’t really hamper what we did,” Grizzaffi said.
With the festival over, the mayor said crews will continue working through the next few days to tidy the city.
“We’ll also be filling a lot of ruts to get the neutral grounds back in order,” Grizzaffi said.
Weber said with the festival over, “we’re going to start working on the 80th. We’re signing up vendors who want to come back and want their same booth. We start today working on next year.”
Six total arrests were made in conjunction with the festival or on festival grounds.
Two teens, ages 14 and 15, were arrested Friday night by narcotics officers patrolling the festival grounds for possession of synthetic marijuana with intent to distribute, St. Mary Sheriff’s Department officials said.
Morgan City police said they made four arrests there through the long weekend.
They were for drug paraphernalia possession, a warrant for probation violation and two festival-related incidents.
In one, a female was charged with driving while intoxicated after she ran through a barricade and almost hit several people by Lawrence Park Sunday night.
Also Sunday night, a man was charged with appearing in public intoxicated, resisting an officer and remaining on premises after being forbidden in Lawrence Park.