(Updated) 2017 Cypress Sawmill Festival canceled

Organizers of the Cypress Sawmill Festival near Patterson have made the decision to not hold the festival, normally held in April, in 2017.

Acting Festival Chairman Jeff LaGrange said in a news release that decreasing revenues and bad weather conditions the past few years contributed to the decision.

“It is with a great deal of sadness that we must report to you that the committee of volunteers that have given so much of their lives to put on a family-oriented festival for the past 25 years, has made the most difficult decision to suspend the Festival for 2017,” LaGrange said.

The festival was first held in 1991 at Kemper Williams Park as a way to help fund the Cypress Sawmill museum and to provide wholesome family fun for people in the Tri-City area, the release stated.

“Unfortunately, Mother Nature has bombarded our fun for the last three years with rain outs leading to severely decreasing revenues,” LaGrange said.

Lack of revenue has caused the festival to be unable “to provide any resources to the museum for several years,” LaGrange said.

The parish economy’s severe decline and lack of volunteers were also factored in to the committee’s decision to cancel this year’s festival.

Festival Founder David Bourdier, who was on the festival board until 2014, said organizing for the first Cypress Sawmill Festival began in 1990, and he envisioned it as a fundraiser for the museum and other local organizations, as well as a way to bring the community together for family entertainment in late March.

Organizers eventually moved the festival to the first weekend in April to have a little warmer weather.

Bourdier wanted the sawmill festival to promote Kemper Williams Park, too.

Carnival rides and a softball tournament have always been fixtures at the festival. Other events held over the years included a car show, poker run and fun walk.
More and more volunteers got involved in subsequent years, and it became one of the top festivals in the state, Bourdier said. The three-day festival always began on Friday afternoon and lasted through Sunday.

At its peak, the festival drew crowds of up to 30,000 over the three days, Bourdier said.

LaGrange and the committee thanked the many donors and volunteers who have made the festival a success for so many years. Many people have worked hundreds of hours “without recognition for many years and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts,” he said.

The festival started as a small, family-oriented event with all non-profit vendors. Over the years, the festival kept its safe atmosphere, LaGrange said, but added more things, including the All-American Lumberjack Show and KQKI’s Country Showdown.

KQKI released a statement Wednesday saying that the radio station plans to still host the Country Showdown this year, and staff members are working to secure a venue and date for the singing competition, which had been held in conjunction with the sawmill festival since 2001.

The lumberjack show was added to the festival 10 or 11 years ago.

If the economy significantly improves, and more volunteers come forward to help, officials may eventually decide to resurrect the festival, LaGrange said.

Bourdier is still willing to help festival organizers any way he can should they decide to bring it back, “but we’ll just have to wait and see,” he said.

LaGrange and other committee members encourage people to visit Louisiana State Museum-Patterson, home to the Wedell-Williams Memorial Aviation and Cypress Sawmill exhibits, and to support the museum with donations through its various fundraisers.