"It takes us a whole week to prepare," Melissa Campbell, the manager of a restaurant and pub on the lake, said.  

"This weekend pulls a big crowd for the entire community of New Roads,'' Campbell said. 

It's second-biggest behind the 4th of July in New Roads, and Campbell expects the lake to be extra crowded, especially with COVID restrictions loosened.

"Everybody's over COVID. And coming out of not being able to do a whole lot, so I think more people will be ready to celebrate this weekend," Campbell said.

Last weekend, two boaters were killed on False River, the first fatalities on the lake in at least a decade.

"It was just a very tragic event for the parish. Everybody involved in that accident was from Pointe Coupee," Sheriff Rene' Thibodeaux said.

After the double boating fatality, the sheriff's office says they're going to be taking some serious steps to prevent that from happening during the holiday weekend.

"What's our biggest fear about having all these boaters in the water? That we have another accident," Thibodeaux said. 

The sheriff will be out on the water, making sure boaters are not drinking, and more importantly, paying attention.

"Be on the lookout for other boaters. Please have somebody in the boat who is a spotter, and let's have a safe weekend we can enjoy and come back home to our loved ones," Thibodeaux said.

The sheriff also says anyone operating a boat while intoxicated will be arrested and all passengers need to have a life preserver on.