By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

LAPLACE – St. John the Baptist Parish officials said Monday that clear skies and warmer than normal temperatures helped boost sales numbers at this past weekend’s Andouille Festival in LaPlace.

St. John Public Information Officer Paige Braud said early attendance figures from the weekend showed that about 20,300 people walked through the gates for the three-day festival.

Braud said the figures were about the same as last year’s numbers. Braud said the parish was happy to see similar attendance numbers considering the festival’s smaller size this year.

With temperatures considerably warmer than this time last year, Braud said vendors selling water, soft drinks and alcohol experienced much better sales this time around.

“Last year it was so cold and wet all weekend, it was hard to generate any sales there,” Braud said. “This year was much more pleasant, even a little hot at certain points in the day.”

Braud said a new feature the parish tried out this year was an advance pay-one-price ticket for rides on the fairgrounds. She said the parish managed to sell about 300 bracelets prior to the opening of the festival.

“It was a huge success for us,” she said. You can definitely expect to see that again next year.”

Braud also said that the parish also did well with the new kidzone tent, which featured games, dancers and other events geared toward the younger crowd. She said vendors in the area experienced high traffic all weekend.

There was also a large crowd for the Sunday Jazz Brunch in the Atrium of the St. John Community Center. Braud said nearly all 100 tickets to the brunch were sold for the event.