17th annual Bayou Teche Black Bear Festival

From 17th annual Bayou Teche Black Bear Festival Website:

2020 Bayou Teche Black Bear Festival
Activities for 2020 will be on Friday, April 17th 2020 from 6:00 PM to 11:00 PM and Saturday, April 18th 2020 from 10:00 AM to 11:00 PM

We invite you to the Seventeenth Annual Bayou Teche Black Bear Festival, Friday, April 17th and Saturday, April 18th, 2020 in beautiful downtown Franklin. Franklin, located in the heart of St. Mary Parish along the banks of the Bayou Teche, is noted for its beautiful antebellum homes, quaint bed and breakfasts, and majestic live oaks. The city is surrounded by expansive cypress tupelo swamps, the unique and expansive Atchafalaya Basin, and in the heart of the nation's "energy coast," where the infrastructure for the production and transport of much of the oil and gas that is distributed to the rest of the United States can be found. The area has a rich natural heritage, with a bountiful list of species readily available for the wildlife fancier. Among those is the Louisiana black bear (Ursus americanus luteolus ).

The mission of the bear festival is to educate the citizens of St. Mary Parish and the surrounding area about the Louisiana black bear, a species listed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service as "threatened" under the guidelines of the Endangered Species Act. The festival features all the activities associated with a typical Louisiana festival, music, food, and good company, but also includes field trips, educational exhibits and children's activities relating to bears and the many other natural resources found in south Louisiana