Festival showcases the richness of Catholic education

A couple of “snow days” couldn’t stop the 2014 Catholic Schools Week Arts and Music Festival from rolling on at Lakeside Shopping Center Jan. 27-Feb. 1.

Although the full slate of Jan. 29 performances had to be cancelled, the remainder of the week’s vocal and dance presentations from Catholic elementary and high schools went off without a hitch. Mall-goers also got to browse the festival’s extensive gallery of original, student-produced art.

As always, the focal point of the festival was the 8-by-15-foot banner above the stage trumpeting the theme of Catholic Schools Week. The 2014 theme was “Catholic Schools: Communities of Faith, Knowledge and Service.”

Michael Buisson III, a St. Francis Xavier seventh grader, created this year’s winning banner design of a large cross decked with symbols of the Holy Trinity and backed by a rainbow containing the three colors of the Archdiocese of New Orleans.

Other banner images, such as dancing shoes, a globe and musical notes, paid tribute to the excellence and well-roundedness of Catholic education, from academics to the arts.

The annual festival is sponsored by the archdiocesan Office of Catholic Schools.