Spanish Festival returned ‘bigger and better’ this year

The past three days were dedicated to New Iberia families descended from Spanish roots as El Festival Español de Nueva Iberia kicked off.

The event started as one of the smaller festivals in New Iberia, but the president of La Asociación Española de Nueva Iberia Brinkley Lopez said a big return was warranted after two years straight the festival being canceled because of COVID-19.

“I always wanted to go bigger and better with more days and a carnival,” Lopez said. “We’re jumping, not taking baby steps.”

One of the most notable additions was the carnival rides set along Fulton Street throughout the weekend along with live music at the Steamboat Warehouse Pavilion and food trucks located in the parking lot of Bouligny Plaza.

The first day of the festival saw the addition of the Spanish Festival’s Boat Parade, which saw several boats filled with participants on the Bayou Teche and even led by an Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Office security vessel for protection.

Carnival rides, fair games and more live music were all additions to the Spanish Festival. On Saturday, the festival had its usual paellas/tapas cookoff in addition to an arts and crafts show and a car show. Performances by Travis Matte, Louisiana Red, Cajun Company and Sideshow among others also took place during the three-day event.

The festival ends today with a parade at noon.

The Spanish Festival is a unique event that celebrates the Spanish heritage of New Iberia, which was originally settled by Francisco Bouligny. While there are festivals all throughout the year that celebrate the Acadian ancestry of locals, the Spanish festival celebrates the often neglected Spanish ancestry that is still evident in New Iberia and still makes up many of the last names of locals.

“The heritage and culture we’re founded by is a really unique thing about this festival,” Lopez said. “There are a lot of Spanish families still here today and you don’t see that anywhere else.”

Genealogy workshops are a regular part of the festival, and those with a Spanish last name are able to go into the Sliman Theater to get a glimpse of the history behind their last name.