Daylily Festival a success despite rain

The 19th Annual Daylily Festival may not have been the biggest Abbeville has ever had, but days after the festival took place, it is being billed as the most financially successful.
The one-day festival had a hiccup 48 hours before it took place. Because of Mother Nature, festival organizers Lynn Guillory and Charlene Beckett were concerned about rain for Saturday.
They met Thursday night to develop a Plan B for moving the festival and its 45 vendors. They thought of the Cecil McCrory Exhibit Building at the LSU AG Center and made phone calls.
The building is covered but has a dirt floor. They got the OK from the LSU AG Center to move the vendors into the McCrory Exhibit Building the day before.
Vendors began setting up at 10 a.m. Friday and by Saturday morning, the festival had a line of customers waiting to go through the doors.
“It was stressful, but it turned out well,” said Guillory. “The vendors said it was their best festival yet. I think people were ready to come out and have a good time.”
“We can tell it was a success because the vendors were happy,” said Beckett. “If they were happy, that means they made money.”
Guillory said many vendors sold out of flowers by noon.
In 19 years, this was only the second time the festival had to be moved from Magdalen Square. The festival will return to the Square next year, and Guillory and Beckett have already come up with a Plan B if it rains for next year. The festival will be moved to the Red Barn on Rodeo Road in Abbeville if Mother Nature threatens to cancel the festival.
“We want to thank the LSU Ag Center for letting us use their building on such short notice,” said Beckett. “It poured down rain Saturday, but everyone stayed dry, thanks to the LSU AG Center.”