The richness of the sounds, smells and sights at Festival International de Louisiane can be invigorating, but it can also trigger a sensory overload. A local organization is offering a sensory-friendly space at Festival for attendees to relax and decompress.
Zone Détente will be located at the intersection of St. John Street and West Vermilion Street in front of Cathedral-Carmel School.
The area is being hosted for the second year by The Beluga Project, a local organization founded by husband and wife team Dave and Ashley Pilon. The Pilons, an occupational therapist and speech therapist, respectively, own and operate Redwood Speech and Feeding Specialists in Lafayette.
The organization’s name stands for “benefit each life using giving arms” and they work to make community events more inclusive for people with disabilities or sensory processing challenges, Dave Pilon said.
The idea for The Beluga Project stemmed from an encounter at Festival International around 2018. The Pilons ran into a couple that they had worked with their two autistic children, and were disheartened to learn the event was simply too overwhelming for their children to attend and enjoy. There wasn’t a space they could turn to when things became too much, they told the Pilons.
The Pilons realized they, with help from the community, could fill that gap to provide more engagement opportunities for their clients and their families.
“I’ve worked with hundreds of families in Acadiana throughout the years who would love to go to different events in the community but there may not have been a safe haven for them. What do we all want to do in life? We want to participate in something,” he said.
For Dave Pilon, the work is also personal.
His maternal aunt, Cindy Nardone, has a disability that makes attending community events and enjoying outings with her family difficult, limiting the activities they can participate in as a whole family unit.
“We didn’t feel like there were safe things to do. We understand that not everyone likes going to Festival, not everyone likes doing the same thing as another person, but for me, my parents were big go-to-the-park people, go-to-events people. If there was a place like this that was safe, secure and still allowed you to feel like part of the event, I know my grandparents and my parents would’ve been able to help my aunt participate more fully,” he said.
Zone Détente is for everyone, whether it's a child with a disability or sensory processing condition who feels a meltdown coming on, or someone just experiencing an anxious or overloaded moment taking in the many stimuli at Festival, Pilon said.
When people enter the area, they’ll be met with a variety of resources — sensory swings; an art area; a partial blackout space with plants, a fan and essential oils; sensory toys to fidget with; comfortable seating; and small tents where a child or child and parent can sit inside to rest.
The Beluga Project will also have bags with items that can help calm the nervous system when someone is overstimulated like sunglasses, chewing gum and earplugs.
Learning from last year, Pilon said the sensory-friendly space will have increased staffing and more educational signage to make the public aware of the goals and etiquette for the sensory space. Signage directing Festival attendees to the area will also be sprinkled throughout downtown, he said.
Some of the improved signage was made possible through a $3,000 award from the 24 Hour Citizen Project in November.
Pilon said he’s excited to continue expanding the number of events The Beluga Project participates in and is hopeful their sensory-friendly spaces will make events like Festival International more inviting to community members with disabilities and sensory processing challenges.
The feeling of the feedback from last year’s initial Festival appearance was “indescribable,” he said.
“So many people were able to finally bring their family member or themselves to Festival for the first time — we heard that numerous times. Even if only one person benefits from this space, it makes us feel like we’ve done our due diligence because it allows someone to participate in something they may not have years prior to,” Pilon said.