NEW IBERIA La. ---
During this difficult time amid the
COVID-19
outbreak, La Asociacion Española de Nueva Iberia and the City of New Iberia have decided it would be in the public's best interest to postpone this year's festival scheduled for April 17 - 19, 2020.
Festival organizers hope you and your family will still be able to attend the 8th Annual El Festival Español de Nueva Iberia on its new dates, Aug. 28 - 30. The event will be held in Bouligny Plaza, on downtown historic Main Street New Iberia.
La Asociación Española Festival Planning Committee has been working diligently in preparation for this year’s festival theme:
Taste of Spain on the Teche,
celebrating Nueva Iberia with food, music, culture and more.
The festivities start Friday, August 28 with a free "Taste of Spain on the Teche" lecture at 6 p.m. at the Essanee Theatre (126 Iberia St.), followed by a viewing of the special Spanish exhibit at Bayou Teche Museum (131 E. Main St.) at 7 p.m.
A ticketed gala will follow at 7:30 p.m. at the Sliman Theater (129 E. Main St.) with wine, beer, sangria, gourmet foods, live Spanish guitar, flamenco dance performances and a live auction. Tickets are $75 per person and include a one year membership to La Asociación Española de Nueva Iberia, Inc. (501c3 non-profit). Tickets are available for purchase at
NewIberiaSpanishFestival.com
or by check mailed and made payable to LAENI, PO Box 12963, New Iberia LA 70562.
On Saturday, August 29, the festival will provide many activities throughout the day such as Running of the Bull’s Dog-Friendly 5K/1 Mile Fun Run, parade, re-enactment of Spanish arrival, arts and crafts show, paella, tapas, jambalaya and Spanish desserts cook-off, genealogy displays, visiting royalty, paella eating contest, children’s tent and fun zone with face painting, fun jump, and petting zoo.
On Sunday, August 30, the public is invited to attended a mass of Thanksgiving at St. Peter’s Catholic Church (108 East St. Peter St.), in honor of New Iberia’s founding families (Gary, Lopez, Migues, Prados, Romero, Segura, and Viator).
"We would like to thank all of our sponsors, supporters, vendors, volunteers, Spanish festival royalty, family and friends of the festival, and the community for all you have given to help make our festival what it is today and for the years to come," says Brinkley Lopez, El Festival's secretary.
"Our focus and mission of the festival is to celebrate the 1779 founding of New Iberia by 16 Spanish families from Malaga, Spain and to create an educational and cultural awareness and exchange of food, music, art and history between New Iberia and the Andalusia region of Spain, while recognizing the contributions of the original Spanish settlers to our culture."
For an up-to-date schedule of events for the festival, please visit
NewIberiaSpanishFestival.com
periodically or follow the association on
Facebook
. If you have any questions or need additional information, call (337) 349-7343 or (337) 380-7636.
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