Tickets are now on sale for the official Books Along the Teche Literary Festival: Celebrating New Iberia, Dave Robicheaux’s Hometown & Great Southern Writers to be held April 3-5, 2020, in New Iberia.
To purchase tickets, day passes and all inclusive passes, visit BonTempsTix.com.
With a focus on Great Southern Writers, the festival highlights Iberia Parish authors and others who write about the unique culture of Louisiana. Events include cooking demonstrations, workshops on writing, book fair, academic symposiums, receptions, poetry, music, live oak walk, movie screenings, children's activities, readers theater and more. Participants can learn Cajun dancing or how to play bouree, and tour the areas described in the Dave Robicheaux novels.
Friday Events:
The "Louisiana Seafood Great Southern Chef Food Demo" featured culinary master is Chef Nathan Richard, 2019 Louisiana Seafood King. This Friday morning event kicks off the festival and introduces attendees with their first bite of Louisiana deliciousness.
"Dave’s Haunts & Jaunts Tour," featured in the New York Times, is a great way to see Iberia Parish the way Burke describes it, as it takes participants to various locations from the series and movies, such as New Iberia's Main Street, the Teche Motel, Iberia Parish Courthouse and new this year, Cane River Pecan Company.
At "Music & Poetry Louisiana Style," author and fellow musician Yvette Landry talks with Swamp Pop Godfather Warren Storm about his life; and Louisiana Poet Laureate emeritus Darrell Bourque explores the ancient Arabic ghazal form keyed to paintings by Shreveport artist Bill Gingles in a reading from his latest book, “migrare’.”
Friday night gets moving with "Jazz It Up Opening Reception," a Cajun cocktail party at the Shadows-on-the-Teche, where a jazz band will serenade guests as they dine on the grounds of this National Trust for Historic Preservation site with food prepared by Food Network star Chefs Cody and Samantha Carroll and provided by Delcambre Direct Seafood.
Saturday Events:
Saturday starts with the Sir Speedy Run, followed by workshops for children's authors and illustrators.
The University of Louisiana at Lafayette will present an Academic Symposium on James Lee Burke and Louisiana's legal landscape. UL Press will host a panel discussing the novel Rethinking New Acadia, which is a collection of essays presenting the research into the dispersal of the Acadians and their arrival in southwestern Louisiana.
Iberia Performing Arts League actors will hold “Center Stage Readers’ Theater” with narration from The Best of Enemies by Osha Gray Davidson.
Nationally acclaimed author Osha Gray Davidson, The Best of Enemies, Race and Redemption in the New South, is 2020’s Great Southern Writer and will present a symposium with a question and answer session. The book is a page-turning account of the unlikely friendship between Ann Atwater, an African American activist in Durham, North Carolina, and C.P. Ellis, a local member of the Ku Klux Klan. Davidson’s book is now a major motion picture starring Taraji P. Henson and Sam Rockwell in the leading roles. The film premiered in April 2019.
At “Allons Manger Food Truck & Music Event,” there will be live music and Cajun delicacies in Bouligny Plaza. Authors will sign and sell their books at the “Authors Book Fair.”
A bourée tournament and children's activities will also take place. Saturday evening will showcase Cajun food, music and dance lessons at the “Boogie On Down Evening Party.” During the weekend, the Grand Theater will show The Best of Enemies.
Sunday Events:
On Sunday, set off on a party barge with “T-Boy's Bayou Adventure Tour” and get a perspective of New Iberia from the waters of the Bayou Teche. A guide will highlight key points of interest along the way. The afternoon will culminate with a free Symphony Sunday in the Park featuring the Acadiana Symphony Orchestra under the live oaks of New Iberia City Park.
About the Festival:
The festival is an event of the Iberia Preservation Alliance, formed by Iberia Cultural Resources Association, Bayou Teche Museum, Shadows-on-the-Teche and the New Iberia Main Street Program.
To purchase tickets and all inclusive passes, visit BonTempsTix.com.
For festival information, e-mail the festival or call Shadows-on-the-Teche at (337) 369-6446. Visit the festival's website or their Facebook, and sign up for festival updates on our James Lee Burke page (select Dave Robicheaux news). For travel information, visit our welcome center at 2513 Hwy. 14, New Iberia.
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