The New Iberia Spanish Festival awarded several local students for their submissions in essays, art and scholastic categories Thursday evening at the Sliman Theater. 

Students who entered the competition were tasked to make their creative works reflect the mission of the New Iberia Spanish Festival, which celebrates New Iberia’s Spanish roots every year with a festival. 

Those who competed took their finished product to the Louisiana Festival and Fairs Convention where they competed for $500. In addition to the state recognition, Hannah Bee said the Spanish Festival wanted to honor the students themselves, which led to the award ceremony at the Sliman. 

“I read their essays and they were phenomenal,” Bee said. “The convention did say it was tight for the essay scholarships and they were very impressed by how passionate our students were about the Spanish Festival.”

The award ceremony also surprised Matt Lopez with the Volunteer of the Year Award, due to his tireless dedication every year to putting on the Spanish Festival and adjacent events. 

The New Iberia Spanish Festival takes place April 9-13 with a wide variety of events showcasing local Spanish culture. 

Events include a Founding Families Parade that takes place on April 11 and showcases the original Spanish families that settled in New Iberia. The parade starts at 10:30 a.m. and will move to a paellas, tapas and jambalaya cookoff. Music, arts and crafts as well as a 5K “Running of the Bulls” are all part of the activities put on by the festival as well.