Dondrick Benoit, left, and Christian Chauvin check out hand made toys Saturday afternoon at the Harvest Moon Festival in Franklin. The annual event is held to kick of holiday shopping for the St. Mary Parish seat’s downtown merchants.
Dondrick Benoit, left, and Christian Chauvin check out hand made toys Saturday afternoon at the Harvest Moon Festival in Franklin. The annual event is held to kick of holiday shopping for the St. Mary Parish seat’s downtown merchants.
FRANKLIN — Saturday proved as good a day as any for the annual Harvest Moon Festival in Franklin.
Numerous tents and stands adorned Main Street as the brick-and-mortar businesses propped open their doors and advertised special sales as part of the festival meant to honor local merchants. Many lauded the clear and sunny weather as a drastic improvement from last year.
“It’s always a very good day,” said Henry Friedman, owner of the 75-year-old Meyer’s Shoe Store. “We’ve been lucky except for last year with the weather.”
Friedman said the increased foot traffic always brings more people than usual into his store and a sidewalk sale in front of the store always helps to clear out severely discounted shoes. Friedman said the event helps out his business even though it’s been around long enough for most locals to know about it.
“It (the festival) brings people in who don’t normally come to downtown Franklin, so that helps out a lot,” he said.
Nelson and Nelly Plaisance set up a stand showcasing the wooden carvings, boat replicas and pyrography from their Raceland business Bayouland Art. This was the first time they came to the Harvest Moon Festival and it proved to be a good way to make new customers, they said.
“It was well worth the effort,” Nelly Plaisance said.
Not all of the stands belonged to merchants. Anna Perry, her two daughters, her son and his wife were selling deep fried Oreos and candy bars as a way to raise money to pay for a cruise the siblings were taking.
That cruise is to celebrate Perry’s son, Kenny Jr., achieving complete remission from leukemia in July.
“It’s going,” he said on the dessert sales. “A lot of people are skeptical of the deep fried candy bars and cookies, but when they taste them, they like them.”
Kenny Perry, a Charenton native who lived in Dallas for several years before relocating to Franklin three years ago, said he was happy for an event like this to have been around for 15 years.
“I’m just glad we got something in Franklin that’s positive, family friendly and good for kids of all ages,” he said.
Anna Perry’s mood was reflected by the day’s sunniness and the upbeat music entertaining the crowd.
“The weather is beautiful,” she said. “You get to meet other people. You can buy from them or they can come buy from you.”
Amenities for the festival include a kid’s play area with fun jumps, a rock climbing wall and slides, a car show and a full schedule of live music.
“I thought it went well,” said Franklin Mayor Raymond Harris Jr. “Nice, quiet peaceful day. We had good weather, good bands and good food.”