Crowd gathers in Houma's courthouse square to celebrate Juicefest

Houma’s third Juicefest drew nearly 1,000 people to downtown Houma.

The music festival Sunday, July 14, brought musicians from various parts of Louisiana, showcased local nonprofits and took a moment to honor a local hero who died earlier this year. It took place at Houma’s courthouse square from 4 p.m. until about 9 p.m. and had a side-show at the Centennial Plaza.

This was the first time the festival returned after taking a five-year hiatus due to the COVID pandemic and Hurricane Ida.

"I love it, I like it. Yeah, I definitely want to come back,” Raquelle Harris of New Orleans said. “It’s up there with the ones we have in the city.”

Owner of Creole Bitez, Harris was selling shrimp and grits. She learned of the festival from her daughter, who was coming out to see the show.

The crowds were packed, and Sharoda Miller, her son Ezekiel James, and his friend Jase Steward were browsing the food vendors. The two boys were escaping the heat in the shade and enjoying Icees while Miller waited to order them some food from the Fat Boy Phillies food truck. They had been in attendance for about an hour. Miller said she liked how much the festival had grown and said the music was great.

There were roughly 15 to 18 musical performances ranging from gospel, country, zydeco, rhythm and blues, southern soul, neo soul, pop and more. The night concluded with a segment known as “Juice and Friends,” which included local artists like Cody Robinson , 1200 Slim, and Donald Allen , D Allen. The final act was Justin Patterson, Deejay Juice, himself.

Attendees sat in lawn chairs in the shade of the courthouse square’s oak trees watching the performances. As the show went on and the midday heat subsided, they began to stand and crowd the steel barrier placed around the steps.

At the centennial plaza, youth performances took place. Chardey Johnson, known as DJ Char, controlled the music, and 10-year-olds Sire and King Fletcher, known as DFB King and Sire, had the crowd cheering. The two rappers are brothers from Baton Rouge whose father, Jamal Fletcher, grew up in Labadieville.

“Dad told us we had a performance,” King said. Then his brother Sire added, “And he said to go hard.”

Based on the applause from the 15 or so people gathered, they did. The two have been performing for about three-and-a-half years and currently have a distribution deal for their music.

Half way through the show, Patterson brought the family of the late Charley Livas Jr. on stage to give them two gifts. Livas was Terrebonne’s first Black licensed photographer. Those who knew him described him as a soft spoken professional.

According to his wife, Margarette Livas, he received his license in 1962, motivated by a love of people. He never opened a studio, and instead preferred to capture his images wherever people naturally were. His daughter, Karen Livas Boyd, said he would upgrade his technology regularly, quickly learning the newest advances in photo and video technology — even planning to dabble in video streaming before his passing.

Patterson presented the family with a proclamation from the Terrebonne Parish Government, and a mural of Livas painted by a local tattoo artist.

This article originally appeared on The Courier: Crowd gathers in Houma's courthouse square to celebrate Juicefest