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All the details about the now-virtual Ebb and Flow Festival this weekend

Much like our business meetings and friend hangouts, local festivals are going virtual as well. The Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge’s Ebb & Flow Festival was supposed to be held in downtown Baton Rouge in early April. But when the COVID-19 shutdown happened, the Arts Council decided to postpone the two-day event.

Since then, Baton Rouge artists have struggled financially but have also been able to focus more on their crafts, according to Ebb & Flow Festival manager Mysti Byrnes. “It’s times of hardship that artists produce more art, and it’s so hard because we can’t interact like we usually do.”

While the Arts Council has held online events such as artist talks and tutorials to help engage the community, Byrnes says the team still felt there was a need for more opportunities for artists to interact with the public. And so, the Arts Council decided to turn Ebb & Flow into a largely virtual experience that starts this weekend.

“A festival that I really looked to was Festival International in Lafayette,” Byrnes says. “They transformed a lot of their events into virtual performances but still kept some of their live aspects.”

Byrnes and the Arts Council hoped to create an experience that people could easily access from their own homes, while still being able to enjoy what the Baton Rouge arts community has to offer.

The festival kicks off Saturday, June 27, and runs until July 4. Read on for all the details from our preview story.