Latest / Tigs Bits Podcast / What to Expect at the 2025 Sabine Free State Festival

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What to Expect at the 2025 Sabine Free State Festival · Tigs Bits Podcast

• 0:00
  We're back in God's country, Florine, Louisiana for the 45th
• 0:06
  annual Sabine Free State Festival.
• 0:09
  Same great vibes, same great food, and yes, still very pro N
• 0:15
  Louisiana despite what the Internet says.
• 0:20
  I've got Ray here to give us the breakdown on what to expect this
• 0:24
  weekend. And fall actually has made its
• 0:27
  way to Louisiana. It's going to be chilly.
• 0:31
  Thank goodness. Right.
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  So excited that you won't be sweating this weekend.
• 0:36
  Exactly. And no, I'm not there just for
• 0:39
  the barbecue and bingo, but I'm going to stay for the barbecue
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  and bingo. Ray, thanks for joining us.
• 0:55
  How would you describe this year's vibe for the festival?
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  Vibe is bigger and better than ever.
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  We have over 70 vendors already confirmed on the map.
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  We've sent the map to print. We are still getting requests.
• 1:13
  Do you have vendor spaces? Do you have vendor spaces?
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  You grew up in flooring. You know how small our festival
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  grounds are. We're having to put vendors over
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  on the catwalk between the auditorium and the old gym.
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  That's how many vendors we have. It's phenomenal.
• 1:30
  This year we are bringing in a Branson level show, Otis and
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  Barney Fife, impersonators from Branson and Las Vegas.
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  They'll have one of the original cars from the Andrew Griffith
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  Show. You never know who's going to
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  go, who's going to get arrested. Are they really?
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  Doing something? Wrong.
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  You don't know what Clyde Conroe is up to or Fannie Mae.
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  It's Halloween, so there's a little bit of spookiness.
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  Friday night. We are playing up on the
• 2:00
  Halloween. We've got a trunk or treat.
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  We've got Cool Hand Luke's 3rd birthday hay rides that'll load
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  up in the parking lot of the old gym and go down to an old
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  cemetery not far from the festival grounds.
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  And then of course, you can't forget the treasure hunt.
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  Midkiff is buried with treasure. Last year Midkiff stumped us
• 2:19
  all. We couldn't find it and man,
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  that was that was an experience. At 10 O clock at night on Sunday
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  night, there was a caravan of four Wheelers and side by sides
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  and trucks going off on a search to find Midcif's treasure, and
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  it was wrapped up in some black electrical tape propped up under
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  a tree that had fallen. It was it was.
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  Midcif got conniving last year. He got cracked.
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  Did that money carry over for this year?
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  I don't know how that works. It did not.
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  The board decided to not carry over the $500 prize from last
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  year to this year, but we use that money to bring in some new
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  and exciting things this year. We are really excited.
• 3:03
  I don't think he's ever been at the Free State Festival because,
• 3:06
  you know, I've only been involved in the festival for
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  about four years now. But we're bringing in Johnny
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  Earthquake and the Moon Dogs as our headliner for Saturday
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  night. And if you or anything about
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  festivals in Louisiana, you know that he is one of the premier
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  festival headliners in this area and he brings in a show that's a
• 3:28
  10 piece band. You've got the horn section.
• 3:31
  I mean, it's going to be a party Saturday night for Saturday's
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  festivities. Of course, the thing that I love
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  most about our festival is we focus on God, family, country.
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  For sure. Yep.
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  And we open Thursday night with a community gospel singing by
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  God's country. We'll be there Thursday night in
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  the Florian High School auditorium.
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  And then we close on Sunday with a Community Church service where
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  we invite all of the community churches to meet together as a
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  community on the ground. Brother Dennis Bigner is going
• 4:00
  to be given our message this year on Sunday and then we'll
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  close Sunday night with our movie family Movie Night of the
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  Last Rodeo, which is an Angel Pictures film.
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  And we will also have the Big Butt contest and the treasure
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  hunt ends on Sunday night. OK, there you go.
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  I mean. That's it's a jam packed.
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  Weekend. It is a jam packed weekend.
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  Absolutely a jam packed weekend. There is something for everyone.
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  If you're not into the loud bangs and the booms of the
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  shootouts, that's OK. We've got historical
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  demonstrators, we've got arts and crafts, we've got mid kiffs
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  midway with the exotic petting zoo and roller cars and laser
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  tag and axe throwing. There is something for everyone.
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  We have the BBQ cook off like we talked about and we're so
• 4:47
  thankful that you're coming in to judge for us this year.
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  Our parade rolls down High School Drive at 11:00 and that's
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  always a fun time. That's always when we have the
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  biggest part of our crowd. One thing that I love and I talk
• 5:00
  about a lot is we aren't your average festival.
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  We're free and open to the public.
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  We don't have your carnival rides, we don't have your normal
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  fair and festival type atmosphere.
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  We are a big family and we are also the Louisiana Association
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  of Fairs and Festivals Festival of the Year for 23 and 24.
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  So. We are hoping to be a three peat
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  and we can only do that if you guys come out and join and join
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  the fun and experience what our festival is all about.
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  You know, we're a historical festival.
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  We're not just a have fun kind of festival.
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  We're main our main focus is to promote Louisiana history in 18
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  O 6 to 1821, a time where Renegades, rebels and outlaws
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  roam this part of the state. You know, and if if we don't
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  work hard to preserve that history, that history is going
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  away. This podcast drops before
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  festival, which also coincides with our poster unveiling, which
• 6:04
  is something we do different than other festivals.
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  A lot of festivals already put their yearly graphic out there
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  and have people, you know, buying the posters, buying the
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  shirts, that kind of thing. Well, we keep it close to our
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  chest. We pick somebody local most of
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  the time who is an artist in our community and we have them
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  design our poster and we keep that top notch top secret.
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  Nobody knows unless you're on the board or the artist.
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  That's it, that's all. And our poster is unveiled
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  tonight at 6:30. We'll have our dinner starting.
• 6:39
  So you're probably watching this a little after that, but don't
• 6:43
  worry, you can go back and watch the live on Facebook.
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  That will also be clue #2 for the treasure hunt is unveiled
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  tonight during the poster unveilance ceremony as well as
• 6:55
  our Grand Marshall. That is unique that the week of
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  the festival you drop it because we don't know who the Grand
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  Marshall is yet. We don't know any of this, we
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  don't know what the festival poster is.
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  Fantastic. I wouldn't have it any other
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  way. That's part of builds the hype
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  up a little bit. It makes it more of a
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  collector's edition and I love the fact that our poster artist
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  is local. I can't wait to get up there.
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  I can't wait to judge some of this amazing BBQ that I know I'm
• 7:25
  going to have. One more thing I got as a secret
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  that we're bringing in this year that I'm still I'm so excited
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  about. Have you we all know about a
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  Shiner, right? The little fish that throw on a
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  bait and uses bait to lead a bins known for catching big fish
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  on shiners, right? Big white perch, Big sack of lay
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  if you're in South Louisiana. White perch if you're in north
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  Louisiana. Yes.
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  Have you ever heard of the World Champion Minnow Racing
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  Association? I have not.
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  I've never heard of this. Thing ever we are bringing to
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  the Free State. Yes.
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  We are bringing world champion minnow racing to the Free State
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  grounds. It's a dollar.
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  Minnow Racing. Yes, you catch your mini in the
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  Little Dixie Cup, you give it a pep talk, you release him in the
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  lane and off he goes. And whoever at the end of the
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  day, at the end of the race, win.
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  That is unique, yes, I've got to find out.
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  I'll be there to see what's happening and I hope to get some
• 8:23
  footage of that because I ain't never heard of that.
• 8:25
  Look it up on Facebook, it's hilarious.
• 8:28
  Big thanks for Ray coming on and and for everyone.
• 8:32
  They're working behind the scenes that aren't on the
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  camera. Big shout out to them.
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  I know how hard of a an event, an event this is to put on.
• 8:42
  We've had these conversations all fair.
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  I've been around it my whole life.
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  It's an undertaking to say the least, and it's a it's a 365 day
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  a year undertaking even pretty much.
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  We're already working on next year's festival.
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  Everybody that hears this, if you are within 100 miles or 300
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  miles it doesn't matter or 1000 fly in.
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  Who cares. Come to Florine Louisiana on
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  October 31st through November the 2nd.
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  Come experience this you need. To perfect family weekend.
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  You get your Halloween on Friday and you get your history on
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  Saturday. It's the perfect way to spend
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  the family weekend. And you get your church on
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  Sunday. That's right, make those core
• 9:29
  memories.