In addition to the hours of fun, music and entertainment scheduled this weekend at the third annual Louisiana Swamp Stomp festival, an educational morning of local culture and heritage will kick off the festival tomorrow.

The program, appropriately named “Tresors du Bayou,” or treasures of the bayou, is much more than just lagniappe to the festival. It is a free and public gathering of dozens of the area’s craftsmen, historians, artists and musicians. Guests will be able to wander among these displays, learning about the unique and fascinating work they are showing off.

Around 1,400 local school children are expected to attend, a pleasant surprise for Brenda Haskins, festival committee co-chair and director of auxiliary services.

“We were only expecting around 500 people,” Haskins said. “Even though all the adults are invited, it is really geared to give an appreciation of the culture here to school children. This is a free program because we are trying to educate. Being a part of Nicholls, we feel that we need to give back.”

Haskins listed dance lessons and presentations on fur trapping, basket weaving and saddle making as just a few of the offered exhibits.

 After the educational segment of the morning, Amanda Shaw and The Cute Guys are scheduled to perform at noon, giving guests a free concert to kick off the rest of the weekend. Haskins expects that Shaw, a 20-year-old Cajun fiddler from Covington, can achieve more with her music than simply entertaining the crowd of school kids.

“We want the children to see somebody young performing this kind of music,” Haskins said. “We want them to say, ‘Look at her, I can be like her!'”

Numerous other music acts are to follow throughout the weekend, including recent Grammy award winners, Chubby Carrier and the Bayou Swamp Band.

Haskins also expressed interest in getting more Nicholls students to attend the Swamp Stomp festival this year.

“It’s on our campus, so we want Nicholls students to be a part of this,” she said. “The festival is only going to grow.”

More information can be found at nicholls.edu/swamp_stomp.

Trudy Duplantis and Henry Bergeron make a purchase from Ernie Garza Sunday during the Louisiana Swamp Stomp Festival.