Zydeco Music, Cajun Food And Cold Beers Bring Bring Back Memories Of Jazzfest
If I can’t be in New Orleans, then it’s good to be in place that feels like I’m in New Orleans.
And that’s why I went to the Bayou Festival in Long Beach, CA, on a sunny Saturday in June (the 22nd, to be exact).
With Zydeco bands – accordion and washboard – filling up downtown Rainbow Lagoon, hush puppies calling me from one of the food booths and really cold beers – Budweiser, Bud Light, Shock Top, Land Shark and Stella Artois – flowing from stations, the Bayou Festival is kind of a “junior Jazzfest.”
Just as they do at Jazzfest in New Orleans, people bring out lawn chairs and sit on the grass by the stages (here, there are two instead of a dozen and it’s not big enough to require the big flagpoles so friends can find you), and eat, drink and get up and dance. Me, I wandered around, bouncing between the Blues Stage (where later that night, Peter Tork of The Monkees was playing with his blues band) and the bigger Bayou Stage.
I loved the sounds of the Bayou Brothers the T-Lous & Hit Hot Louisiana Zydeco Band. Entertainment runs from noon-9 on Saturday and noon-8 on Sunday.
It’s also cool to walk around and through the vendor booths because you can still clearly hear the music. And just like New Orleans, you’re not far from another beer!
I closed my eyes for a few moments and pretended I was walking in and out of the beads shops in the French Quarter and Bourbon Street, which has the music playing constantly. That’s one of the things I like most about New Orleans and one of the things I miss about New Orleans. So it was great to experience it – even in a little way – here in Los Angeles.
Laissez les bons temps rouler!
LINK:
• Complete Review Of The Long Beach Bayou Festival
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