Don't forget: our annual Festival International contest begins Thursday! Win. Cool. Stuff.

LUS Fiber's WiFi hot spot will help grease the

skids for Fest fIND 2014!

Festival International de Louisiane is right around the corner - April 23-27 - and the IND's second annual Fest fIND contest is along for the ride.

Last year was all about the fuzzy hat and the cool merch. This year it's a little more like a photo scavenger hunt - take a pic at a specific location during festival and email it to us; we'll select a winner based on some incredibly random, subjective criteria we haven't settled on yet. Oh, and winners get more cool merch including Festival gear, goodies from LUS Fiber and gift certificates to some cool Downtown restaurants. Not to mention the exquisite satisfaction of playing a contest hosted by your fave source for Lafayette news, culture and commentary.

Here's how it works. Listed below are events/performances during Festival at which contestants will snap a photo and email it to indbox@theind.com. IND staff members will select a winner and announce it later that afternoon on our Facebook page. That evening the Fest fIND winner stops by the IND office, 551 Jefferson St. Downtown, and gets the stuff. That night the Fest fIND winner gloats incessantly about being a Fest fIND winner, prancing around with her Fest fIND backpack full of Festival International and LUS Fiber gear, Brother Dege's latest CD How to Kill a Horse, Sassafras Jubilee's brand-spanking new CD Long Time Coming and gift certificates to Pat's Downtown and Jefferson Street Pub, and driving her friends insane with envy.

On Monday we'll select a grand prize winner who will get the above-mentioned stuff plus a $50 gift certificate to Saint Street Inn.

We'll also be compiling all the photos into photo galleries readers can view at theind.com and on our Facebook page. So like us on Facebook. Just because.

And here's a cool feature to this year's contest: LUS Fiber is co-sponsoring Fest fIND 2014, and because we all know how difficult it can be to send data from a smartphone when 30,000 people Downtown are trying to do the same thing, LUS Fiber will be setting up a WiFi hot spot near Scène TV5 MONDE/Lafayette (the stage in Parc Putnam by the federal courthouse) to handle all the digital traffic. Terry Huval rocks!

Without further ado, here are the Fest fIND 2014 details:

THROWBACK THURSDAY

Photos from Festivals gone by

Email to indbox@theind.com any time

Winner announced at 3 p.m.

Prize pickup at IND office 5:45-6 p.m.

FRIDAY

A pic from Bach Lunch (Parc Sans Souci)

Noon-1 p.m.

Winner announced at 3 p.m.

Prize pickup 5:45-6 p.m.

SATURDAY DOUBLE WHAMMY

Shoot a selfie with Sassafras Jubilee (shameless self-promotion alert: that's Managing Editor Walter Pierce's band) performing at Scène POPEYES

2:45-3:15 p.m.

And ... shoot a pic with a stilt walker any time including during the Festival Promenade & Tintamarre

4 p.m.

Winners will be announced at 5 p.m.

Prize pickup 5:45-6 p.m.

SUNDAY

Group pic at the Tipsy Tent (Scène Fais Do Do) and/or kiddie pics at the Baby Changing Station (also Scène Fais Do Do)

Any time

Winners announced at 3 p.m.

Prize pickup 4-4:15 p.m.



Questioning our sincerity? Check out this Throwback Thursday photo gallery of past Festivals submitted by IND staff members!

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