Louisiana Peach Festival expected to have huge economic impact in Ruston

RUSTON, La. (KNOE) – The 74th annual Louisiana Peach Festival is on June 1. It’s expected to bring in thousands of people from all over the region and have an economic impact of over $2 million for local businesses, restaurants and hotels.

For the first time ever, the Peach Festival will be free for all ages.

“It’s peach time, and we could not be more excited,” said Amy Stegall, main street director and community coordinator for the City of Ruston. “It’s our favorite time of year in Ruston and has been for over 74 years now. We’re super excited to offer it for free for the whole day and that’s our big news this year.”

The theme for the festival is, “Everyone’s invited,” which as Stegall says, is part of how the idea of having admission costs for free got started.

“We actually found in the Peach Festival catacombs an old banner that said, ‘Everyone’s invited to the Louisiana Peach Festival,’ and we thought, ‘What better year to bring that theme here when we’re going to offer the festival for free for the first time,’” said Stegall.

The festival includes live music, more than 100 food trucks and art vendors, kids’ activities, a parade, and of course, peaches.

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“You can come to the rodeo or play in the Pickleball tournament. You could also be a part of the pageants. There are lots of fun things happening in and around the festival property as well,” Stegall said.

Stegall said she hopes the economic impact will be felt by the entire community.

“We’ll see merchants in downtown have the biggest days of the year during the peach festival. Our hope is that if it’s free for the whole day, that impact will be felt even further, so restaurants, hotels and all of the things that happen. We want to see those dollars going to that local economy so we’re excited about that,” said Stegall.

Stegall explains why it’s important to keep the festival in town.

“It is something that is really important to our culture, and then when we come together in the community to spend our money in the community, it just multiplies in great ways for everybody,” Stegall said.

There are still slots available for those who wish to volunteer at the festival. If you are interested in signing up, click here.

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