‘You can’t cancel Blackpot. You can’t stop it.’

“A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes.” — Mark Twain.

Duly noted. I guess the same applies to a rumor that came my way: The Blackpot Festival will not be held at Acadian Village this year.

When I first heard the news, my heart sank. What?! No Blackpot?

Alas, it is a factual rumor after all.

So, yes, while the 10th annual Blackpot Festival & Cookoff will not be held at Acadian Village in October, it does head on over to Vermilionville Living History & Folk Life Park, Oct. 30-31, with all kinds of music, food and fun.

Hear that? That’s my sigh of relief. Shout it from the rooftops: The tradition continues of the most accommodating festival in the area regarding the ultra-convenience of walking “home” after dancing and enjoying adult beverages — which, of course, for me comes after reporting and working and stuff.

For nine years, though, Acadian Village hosted the event and they were fine hosts indeed.

“I guess they were just overwhelmed. They just didn’t want to do it there anymore,” said festival co-founder/Reveler Chas Justus. “It wasn’t really our choice.”

And there are no hard feelings, either.

“It’s awesome. It’s awesome,” Justus said of Acadian Village. “But we’ll move on. Blackpot Festival isn’t about a site, it’s great as it is. Of course, with the chapel and the whole thing, it was a perfect place.”

At the same time, the festival crowd is growing, “it’s getting a little tight,” he said, adding that Vermilionville “actually has more camping and a couple of other things that are actually advantageous — and a couple of things that are not as advantageous — but the spirit and the vibe will be there.”

The spirit and vibe are the intangible tangibles of the festival. Or, as Justus said: “It’s an idea. It’s a feeling.”

Justus said while there’s more tent camping “without the rocks of a gravel parking lot — it’s sorta ideal in that regard, you know,” there are no RV hookups that could dissuade the comfortable camping set.

“They don’t have the hook-ups, for one, and they just don’t have the space to have them with the camping,” he said.

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Rumors of the last Blackpot?

“No, no. Is that a rumor?” asked an incredulous Justus. “I don’t think we could stop Blackpot if we wanted to. I don’t even know how that would even work.”

Justus recalled a story of a kid who, with his North Carolina family, attended Blackpot last year.

“And he said, ‘Are we going to Blackpot this year? We don’t have to have Christmas if we go to Blackpot,’” said Justus. “So, you can’t cancel Christmas, you know. You can’t cancel Blackpot. You can’t stop it.”

A lineup with “a lot of the usual suspects” is relatively settled, but Justus prefers to keep it close to his chest until everyone is inked.

What he did share is that “the chapel stage is all different stuff,” said Justus. “It’s not any of the usual suspects from the any of the usual suspects from the Louisiana festivals.”

Justus did go on the record with one act that “I’m really excited about,” he said.

“This guy Roy Book Binder is going to be there,” said Justus, noting that he was with the late bluesman, the Rev. Gary Davis for years. “He’s the carrier of the lineage of that. He’s a great raconteur and plays that finger-style, that Carolina-Piedmont style. It’s the real deal.”

If I may, everything about Blackpot is the real deal. Keep checking in with us. We’ll have the lineup soon.