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Countdown to the 2007 Gretna Heritage Festival

By Lisa Heindel

Real Estate Broker/Owner with Crescent City Living LLC Licensed LA RE Commission

October 02, 2007 04:57 PM

It's that time of year again. The Gretna Heritage Festival is this weekend, starting Friday, October 5^th and running through Sunday, October 7th - are you ready?

The festival is held on the West Bank in the City of Gretna on the first weekend of October each year, just as the weather is becoming milder and being outside is fun. Located at Huey P. Long and the Mississippi River, with so much to experience...the festival offers great food, music and fun. Free public parking is available in the parking garage at 3^rd St & Derbigny St.

There will be an area with carnival games and over 12 rides for the young and young at heart. This part of the festival always reminds me of a boardwalk with its "carny" atmosphere. Popcorn, cotton candy, soft drinks. A child's delight! Pay one price ride bracelets are available to keep the kids occupied on Friday evening from 6-10 pm and from 2-6 pm on Sunday.

Specialty areas include:

•· German Beer Garden

•· Italian Village, featuring Italian cuisine and music

•· Arts and Crafts booths will be located throughout the festival

•· Don't forget to check out this year's official Gretna Heritage Festival poster

Food, food and more food. Kettle Korn? Check. Gumbo? Check. Funnel cakes? Check. Come visit with me and the rest of the Krewe of Choctaw at our booth, where we will be selling shrimp poboys and crawfish pies and generally having a great time.

The biggest draw of the festival is always the music and this year's lineup is, in my opinion, the best yet. Friday afternoon kicks off with Bruce Daigrepont at 4:15 pm and the evening shows include Starship featuring Mickey Thomas and the Temptations Revue. Come back on Saturday to see local favorite Irma Thomas and wrap up the night with the Beach Boys. Closing day of the festival is Sunday, with the fabulous local band Bonearama and country artist Travis Tritt to wrap things up.

I'll post a follow up with pictures from this year's festival on Monday. I'm looking forward to seeing you this weekend!

Your West Bank Real Estate Specialist

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Jolynne Photography, Creative Wedding Photography, Family Portraits, Bar Mitzvahs

Jolynne Photography - Hemet, CA

Bat Mitzvahs, Senior Pictures, Event Photography

"Crawfish pies" and "good time" in the same sentence? I must be reading Lisa's New Orleans Blog!

Sounds like a blast Lisa...keep up the great work.

Oct 02, 2007 06:46 PM

Lisa Heindel

Crescent City Living LLC - New Orleans, LA

New Orleans Real Estate Broker

Hey Joey! It really is a great time...come on down and visit us!

Oct 03, 2007 03:04 AM

Laura Cerrano

Feng Shui Manhattan Long Island - Locust Valley, NY

Certified Feng Shui Expert, Speaker & Researcher

Lisa, I love fairs and festivals. This one sounds terrific, I look forward to seeing your post on it...have fun!

Oct 03, 2007 01:01 PM

Carole, I'm getting better at taking pictures everywhere I go, so hopefully I'll have some good ones to share next week. Thanks for stopping by and commenting.

Oct 03, 2007 01:17 PM

Judi Morgan

RETIRED - San Antonio, TX

San Antonio, TX Real Estate

Hey Lisa, This really sounds like a good time! The music sounds great. Save me a shrimp po'boy, please. Wish we could be there. I'm looking forward to the pictures of the festival next week.

Oct 03, 2007 04:27 PM

Hi Judi! Our carnival krewe sponsors this booth every year and we always have a great time. It makes for a long weekend, though, since we will be out there from around noon on Friday, all day and into the night on Saturday and again on Sunday. Believe me, there's a reason I only eat crawfish pies once a year :) I'll try to get some good pictures for you!

Oct 03, 2007 04:32 PM

Lisa, that's a long weekend and lot of shrimp po'boys and crawfish pies. I'm going to have to keep a close eye on your blog so I can decide when to go to New Orleans based on which Festival I want to attend! There's always a Festival scheduled around there.

Oct 04, 2007 04:13 PM

Judi, you want to come in April if possible. French Quarter festival, Jazz Fest, Strawberry Festival. The weather is good and there's so much to do. I might even be able to arrange for some fresh fish for you :)

Oct 04, 2007 06:37 PM

Anonymous

Totally disgusted visitor to Gretna Festival!!!

I am totally disgusted with the activities I witnessed at your Gretna Festival and will take my complaint to the Louisiana Tourism Bureau. Price gouging, vile outburst by several, from what I understand, supervisors of your event towards visitors and vendors amongst other issues we encountered. I have video shot of one man associated with the festival being billigerent and using foul defaming verbiage towards several people who were vendors. On top of this situation, the Elite potty vendor was making people waiting in line wait even more so he could cut in line with friends to accomodate his own ego by utilizing profanity towards patrons and demanding he had the right to cut in line.

All I can say is your city is ungrateful to those who come from far and near to spend hard earned funds at this event. I will never participate in your festival again, and will pass this on to many of my coworkers and friends regarding the miserable display of community by your city, parish, and local law enforcement who by the way were just as unbecoming as servants of the people.

Totally Disgusted!

Oct 08, 2007 07:20 PM

Totally disgusted, I am so sorry that you had a poor experience at the festival. I am involved in an organization that was a food vendor (not a festival organizer), and we did not have any of the issues you have referred to here. I felt that the prices were in line with other fairs and festivals in the area and I never had to wait in line to use one of the many port-a-potties available. If you had this serious of an issue with the people in charge of the festival, or a particular vendor involved, I would suggest that you contact Mayor Ronnie Harris' office at (504) 363-1500 to determine how to file an official complaint.

Oct 09, 2007 02:41 AM

Countdown to the 2007 Gretna Heritage Festival

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