La Fête du Festival, Festival International de Louisiane’s annual fundraiser, is Friday. It has never been more important. On Tuesday, FIL Executive Director Scott Feehan emailed board members and other financial supporters with some troubling developments while reminding them about Friday’s fundraiser:
Bad news: Heritage Stage has been cancelled. We still have not been able to sign a single sponsor for ANY of our stages.
Rest assured, we are working diligently every day to network and find sponsors, just nothing yet.
Thirty years old, FIL draws about 300,000 visitors each year and pumps millions of dollars in sales taxes into the Lafayette economy. Yet it only receives about $70,000 in support, plus in-kind contributions like police and recycling, from the city of Lafayette. It, along with Festivals Acadiens et Creoles, is a cultural gem for Lafayette. But with oil in a slump and Lafayette’s economy in a slump along with it, FIL, like nonprofits across Louisiana, is having a devil of a time scaring up corporate support.
You can show your support by purchasing a ticket to Friday’s La Fête du Festival at Warehouse 535 on Garfield Street. Tickets are $50 for individuals and entitle guests to food from Bay Leaf and an energetic musical performance by Indian vocalist Falu, with DJ Moon spinning tracks as a warm-up.
Click here to purchase tickets or to make a donation.
Festival International de Louisiane 2017 will be held April 26-30 in Downtown Lafayette.