The 13th annual Louisiana Cajun-Zydeco Festival kicks off its Louisiana heritage celebration on Saturday, June 22 and Sunday, June 23. The festival will be held at Louis Armstrong Park in downtown New Orleans and is open from 11am until 7pm both days.
The festival, hosted by the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival and Foundation, will be an entire weekend dedicated to great New Orleans and Cajun music, food and entertainment fun for the entire family.
For the music aspect of the festival, attendees will hear Cajun and Zydeco performances highlighted by Grammy winners The Lost Bayou Ramblers, Grammy nominee Dwayne Dopsie and the Zydeco Hellraisers, 2010 Grammy winner Chubby Carrier and singer and fiddler Amanda Shaw.
The full schedule of performers on Saturday will include The Daiquiri Queens at 11am, Bruce Daigrepont at 12:45pm, Nouveaux Cajun Express at 2:30pm, Nathan and the Zydeco Cha Chas at 4:15 and the Lost Bayou Ramblers at 5:45pm.
On Sunday, the music lineup will have Amanda Shaw perform her new show, Joie D' Louisiane, at 11am, Terry and the Zydeco Bad Boys at 12:45pm, Dikki Du and the Zydeco Krewe at 2:30pm, Chubby Carrier at 4:15 and a closing act by Dwayne Dopsie at 5:45pm.
It also wouldn't be a New Orleans Festival without great food. Attendees at the festival can expect 10 vendors serving a wide range of New Orleans classics such as oysters, shrimp, catfish, crab, boudin and alligator all on the menu. There will also be four vendors serving cool and refreshing desserts.
While taking a break from the live music and food, guests can take a stroll through the arts market during the festival. At the arts market, there will be over 24 artisans from the region selling handmade art, jewelry and other crafts.
For the children, parents can let their kids have fun at the Kids Tent. At the Kids Tent, children will enjoy supervised creative activities. The Cajun-Zydeco Festival will also be partnering with the artisan craft vendors at the festival to lead instructional workshops for the children. The Kids Craft Tent will close at 6pm both days of the festival.
If you are wondering on how to get to the festival, the RTA bus route No. 91 (Jackson-Esplanade) passes directly in front of Armstrong Park as well as the Rampart-St. Claude streetcar. If you are driving, the Basin Street Station parking lot on Basin St. will be available for $20 a day.
