Dear Community,

As you all know, Festival International looked a lot different last year, altering the plans for our original project. The same will be true for Festival International 2021. The Festival released their plans for this year’s event in January. The Covid-friendly plans “take the 2020 Virtual Fest structure to the next level by combining live/immersive experiences in Downtown Lafayette, plus community-centered components to create an unforgettable event”. You can read more details about the 2021 plans here: https://festivalinternational.org/festival-international-announces-plans-for-2021/

We’ve been in communication with Festival International throughout the last year and are all committed to incorporating sustainability into this year’s hybrid live/immersive event. Fourteen of the food vendors from last year’s lineup had pledged to participate as “green” festival vendors and use only plant-based service ware. This year, we will work with the Festival and their restaurant partners to incorporate plant-based packaging into the “FEASTival International” activities set to take place throughout the month of April.

While we are not yet able to confirm exactly how this will look, we hope you will be able to pick up some traditional Festival menu-items boxed in plant-based to-go containers. It is worth noting that to-go boxes are the more expensive of the plant-based packaging items, so the funding won’t go as far as it would have at a live event where many of the food items are served in paper boats, plates, and bowls. However, our mission to introduce and encourage the use of plant-based packaging options (particularly the bagasse containers!) will continue and Festival fans can expect to see the *Geaux Green* logo used in some capacity to designate restaurants with more sustainable takeout operations.

Yours in green,
The Greening Festival team