Mosquito Spraying Begins Tonight Ahead of Shrimp Festival

Beginning on Wednesday and running through the weekend thousands of us will gather in Delcambre for the 70th annual Shrimp Festival. This year's festival features a lot of great food, live music, pageantry, and competition but one thing organizers hope it won't feature will be mosquitoes.

Steps are being taken beginning tonight to help ensure that everyone who comes to Delcambre for the Shrimp Festival won't leave with itchy welts or worse. The Iberia Parish Mosquito Abatement District will begin flights this evening to spray for mosquitoes.

The aerial operation will target Delcambre and surrounding areas. This is assuming that weather conditions will be conducive for the project, of course. Expect aircraft to take to the skies shortly after sunset. The entire spray operation shouldn't last more than an hour.

While the chemicals being applied are generally harmless to humans, those who have a sensitivity to such things or those who simply want to minimize their exposure to the chemicals might want to remain indoors around the time of sunset and shortly thereafter. But there is no reason to cancel outside plans tonight because of the planned spraying activity.

During tonight's spray operation aircraft will be flying rather low. You are cautioned to not stare at or attempt to follow the aircraft. The sprayers should be flying rather quickly anyway and they should have them out of your area and out of your way in just a few minutes.

According to Iberia Parish Mosquito Abatement District, the area that will be sprayed tonight will include Delcambre, Bob Acres, Twin Port Road, Highway 14, CLoma Road South of Lake Peigneur and all points in between.

The 70th Edition of the Delcambre Shrimp Festival gets underway on Wednesday night. There is no gate fee for activities on Wednesday and Thursday nights. However, there will be a $10 gate fee for Friday night's musical lineup and a $10 gate fee for activities on Saturday.