May 1-3 Another Festival?

'Tis the season. This weekend is the Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival .... celebrating all things écrevisses. There are queens, princesses, kings, contests, parades, races, food, arts, crafts, dance lessons, bands galore and carnival rides.

Of course, I'm here for the dancing!! There are three stages so I can't see it all. Friday night was Pine Leaf Boys on one stage conflicting with Cedric Watson on another. Having missed his outstanding performance at Festival Internationale (I was too tired to stay) I really wanted to see Cedric Watson. He has assembled a talented group of musicians and they are in prime form. Blues de la Musician, Pine Grove Blues, waltzes, two-steps and zydeco - he does it all :) But the crowd is getting thick and no one is dancing - where did the dancers go? They are all at the Breaux Bridge Tent dancing to Al Berard Family Band. Wood dance floor (as opposed to concrete or asphalt) and great music. The whole family is onstage including husband & wife Laura B. Huval-acoustic guitar, vocals and Adrian Huval-accordion, saxophone/vocals, with Maegan Berard-electric guitar, vocals, and Kyle Hebert-bass, fiddle. Of course, Mom & Dad lead the show --- Karleen Berard, t-fer, vocals and Albert Berard-guitar, mandolin, fiddle, vocals.

Saturday is going to be long & hot, so I've got to pick & choose. Balfa Toujours is tops on the list with Christine Balfa, Dirk Powell, Joel Savoy sitting in on fiddle and Yvette Landry on bass. Christine gets a chance to show her t-fer skill as Dirk & Joel play dueling fiddles. Evening brings Steve Riley, Geno Delafose, and Hunter Hayes. 'nough said about the first two!! Hunter Hayes is a native of Breaux Bridge made famous by his appearance with Hank Williams Jr. in Texas when he was 5 years old. He played Jambalaya - accordion & vocals - and was a BIG hit, catch it on You Tube!! Well, that was 12 years ago. He is much cuter now & just as talented, playing guitar, singing R&B, country, cajun, etc. It's a young crowd with few dancers, I guess all the dancers are at Geno!! After a couple of zydeco partners, including the drunk who kept spilling his beer on me, I decided tomorrow is another day.

Sunday was T-storm day. I got to The Festival Stage in time for Bonsoir Catin (Anya Burgess, Christine Balfa, Kristi Guillory & Yvette Landry) to play their first song. The pitter-patter of drops brought out the umbrellas - did you know you can dance under an umbrella?? Yummm :) But the wind forces the band to protect their instruments, so the music is over for a bit. Thirty minutes later the rain is over, the band is out and the concrete dance floor is slick. Does that stop the dancers? NO!! We dry out a path with our travelin' two-step and enjoy the rest of the set. The rain comes again as the last number begins and we scuttle to the car just in time to avoid the monsoon.

Dinner tonight (May 3rd) with Gerry's house guests at Zea's. What a wonderful evening with new friends. They are Deidre & Linda from England and Marianne, Michel & Daniel from Belgium. Lots of talk about the zydeco festival in Soileau, France in August. Wanna go?