DENHAM SPRINGS - The Antique Village Merchants Association has announced the annual Denham Springs fall festival is cancelled for this year while residents work to pick up the pieces following record-breaking flooding.

DSANA President Al Bye said the decision was made after it became apparent that many integral elements that make the festival will be unavailable with recovery efforts ramping up to full-tilt.

”We are entrusted by our community to produce a safe, secure and entertaining festival,” Bye said. “With the City of Denham Springs infrastructure being so greatly ravaged by the recent flood, our decision was to cancel the festival.”

The August flood heavily damaged many of the stores that are central to the Denham Springs Antique Village, but city officials note that around 60 percent of the stores on the south end of the village managed to escape serious injury and remain open for business.

“While the specific day of the festival has been cancelled, we still invite the public to come out and enjoy the shops and ambience of the Denham Springs Antique Village,” said an encouraging Bye.

The festival planning team in Denham Springs says they are already looking forward to the upcoming festival in the spring. That event will happen as originally scheduled in April 2017 as recovery efforts continue.