Peach Festival postponed until October
Leader file photo
In this photo from the 2019 Louisiana Peach Festival, Parker Batterton wins the peach-eating contest. The Peach Festival has been postponed until October as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
A scaled-back version of the Louisiana Peach Festival will be held in October this year, as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Ruston-Lincoln Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors on Monday decided to move the annual summer event from its traditional last weekend in June to Oct. 24. That’s the date most of the bands already under contract for the festival were available, Chamber President Judy Copeland said.
Though planning for the festival is typically well under way by now, it has been on hold since the business shutdown and stay-at home orders went into effect in mid-March.
“Because of COVID-19, we were unable to finalize some of the logistics, even if things were to open up tomorrow,” Copeland said Tuesday.
The one-day festival will still feature arts and crafts and as many of the traditional activities as possible, Copeland said.
“We’ll just make sure the vendors that we bring in will have peach items,” she said.
The festival normally draws about 24,000 people. This year marks the 70th year of the event that was started to boost the summertime economy and honor what at that the time were several peach growers in Lincoln Parish.
