Beginning in 1973, the Red River Revel has brought art, food, music and celebration to Shreveport. This year, the Revel took place Oct. 8–11 and Oct. 15–18, featuring many artists and musicians. There are many different people and organizations involved in the festival, but how exactly is Centenary involved?
Zeta Tau Alpha, one of Centenary’s two sororities, has been involved at the Revel since the very beginning.
“We’ve been here all fifty years. We were the first and only group still here today” explained 1966 Centenary graduate Aubrey Bray.
“We started this when I was thirty two and now I am eighty two. We used little butane skillets and that’s how we made the food.”
At the time, there were only three booths at the Revel, including Zeta. They also attend to support their philanthropy of breast cancer awareness. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and this is a big part of what they support and stand for.
Zeta Tau Alpha members Bryn Joiner (left) and Macy O’Neal (right) attend their booth at the Revel.
Zeta Tau Alpha is not the only part of Centenary involved at the Revel. Since 2022, the Cheer team has been performing at the Revel annually.
Head coach Kaylee King explained that “We ended up at the Revel because Mark Misseldine, who works in the development office, asked my first year here if our team would be willing to perform since he works with the Revel. After that year, they continue to reach out and ask us if we’d like to come back and perform. Now, it’s just become part of our fall schedule each year.”
This year, the team’s performance on Oct. 15 included a collection of cheers they practiced throughout the year.
Though Zeta Tau Alpha and Cheer are the two main contributors to the Revel, the college’s involvement only continues to grow each year. Whether it is students, professors or other members of the development office that are individually involved at the Revel, Centenary heavily impacts the experience of the Red River Revel.