Lighthouse festival this weekend

The town of Berwick will host its fourth annual Lighthouse Festival this weekend in conjunction with the finish of the Tour du Teche VIII canoe and kayak race Sunday. The festival will also host the 36th annual Country Showdown regional competition.

Race officials began holding the race finish in Berwick in 2011 after finishing in Patterson for the inaugural race.

In 2014, Berwick leaders added a Lighthouse Festival to the Tour du Teche finish, and then added carnival rides last year. The festival takes place around Berwick’s Southwest Reef Lighthouse.

“It’s grown from the first year,” Mayor Louis Ratcliff said of the event. “It seems like it’s getting bigger and bigger.”

Carnival rides will start Friday evening on the Berwick riverfront and continue through Sunday. Pay-one-price ride bracelets will be available for $18 at the festival for certain time slots throughout the weekend.

Whiskey Bayou will play 6:30-9:30 p.m. Friday by the lighthouse.

Festival events will take place 9 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday.

Food will be sold Saturday and Sunday, and the fire department will also sell cold drinks Friday.

Thirteen food and drink vendors along with 20 arts and crafts vendors will have booths Saturday and Sunday, Festival Organizer Misty Pillaro said.

The 135-mile Tour du Teche VIII three-day canoe and kayak race from Port Barre to Berwick, which starts on Bayou Teche, continues down the Lower Atchafalaya River and finishes in Berwick Bay, will begin Friday and finish Sunday.

Participants in the 410 de Louisiane also finish in Berwick. That race comprises the Tour de la Rivière Rouge, a 275-mile race from Bossier City to Port Barre, and the Tour du Teche.

Twenty-eight racers are expected to finish Sunday in Berwick, Race Director Ray Pellerin said.

There are multiple racing categories including solo, tandem and big boat divisions. Four people are racing in the 410-mile race, Pellerin said.

Adding a festival to the finish has really helped bring out more spectators to see the Tour du Teche finish, he said.

Paddlers went from having maybe a few dozen to watch them finish in 2011 to maybe 1,000 spectators, Pellerin said.

An awards ceremony for those races will be at 4 p.m. Sunday.

A program celebrating the history of trapping and seafood industry of Berwick begins at 10 a.m. Saturday at the wooden stage area under the U.S. 90 bridge.

Visitors are invited to view a pictorial display at the Brown House on Third Street following the history program.

Bands will play Saturday and Sunday on a stage set up at the Utah Street entrance to the riverfront.

KQKI Country Showdown winner Mamie Winters, who bested the local competition during the Bayou BBQ Bash in July, will compete Saturday with other winners from Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi. The winner of the regionals will move up to the Midsouth Semifinals.

Saturday’s music lineup includes Old Soul 12:30-2:30 p.m., Jus Cuz 3-5 p.m., the regional Country Showdown 5:30-7:30 p.m., and Deja Vu 8-10 p.m.

LA Rhythm will play 12:30-3:30 p.m. Sunday.

The Berwick High School Beta Club will also have fun jumps set up Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

The Cypress Corvette Club will hold a car show from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Sunday under the U.S. 90 bridge at the same place the history program will be held. The car show was originally scheduled to be held during the Louisiana Shrimp and Petroleum Festival, but was postponed due to bad weather.

There will be a petting zoo set up from noon-4 p.m. Sunday in the grassy area between Utah and Pacific streets.