POINTE COUPEE - MINI-WOODSTOCK

From A History of Pointe Coupée Parish, Louisiana by Brian J Costello.

An unusual event two years after the Woodstock music festival, attracted huge crowds and widespread national attention to Pointe Coupée Parish: the Celebration of Life held during June 24-27, 1971, at McCrea. A Baton Rouge attorney leased the 700-acre Cypress Point site between the Atchafalaya River and levee to rock festival promoters for the festival, which attracted, according to the Associated Press, an estimated 50,000 persons from across the United States and foreign countries.

The celebration was scheduled to run eight days, but was delayed by legal injunctions and safety and sanitary concerns. The fact that the festival was staged in Pointe Coupée caused much apprehension, as parish residents had hitherto experienced little contact with "hippies". Attendees camped out on local roads and levees before the program finally got underway. Before and during the festival, they suffered from appalling heat and thunderstorms and limited food and water supplies. When the program finally got underway, only a few of the many scheduled acts performed. Among those who did were Ted Nugent, Ike and Tina Turner, Sly and the Family Stone, and Melanie.

Some 150 festival goers were arrested for drug possession. Several others reportedly died from drowning and drug overdoses and at least one baby was born during the "mini-Woodstock." A number of young attendees were beaten for no apparent reason by motorcycle club members hired by festival organizers as "security" for the event but who acted as thugs.

However, many attendees nationwide still today speak nostalgically on internet blogs today of the friendliness and hospitality offered by parish residents, and the latter tell of politeness of festival-goers with whom they had contact.

Below is a video of a film of scenes from the event taken with an 8mm. movie camera.



To think of such an event taking place in sleepy Pointe Coupée Parish (the location of the small farm where Grandpère grew up) back in 1971, when the parish was sleepy is amazing. I remember the consternation of the local folks at the time. They did not want another Woodstock in their territory.

The parish is no longer sleepy, for it's become a weekend and holiday place of choice for a visit, with resulting construction of many new waterfront "camps", some priced at over $1 million. In addition, commuters from Baton Rouge and retirees are swelling the permanent population. The traffic on the road in front of our house is nearly non-stop, making it difficult and rather dangerous to cross to the river front or to get on the road in a car.