Rotary Bayou Music Festival and Shrimp Boil-Off – Oct. 12

The Rotary Bayou Music Festival returns for its fourth year with a few minor changes.

A scheduling conflict truncated the festival, traditionally a weekend event, but organizers have added a new feature: the shrimp boil-off.

“We’re going to have about 15 teams who are going to boil hundreds of pounds of shrimp,” said Martha Collins, president of Golden Meadow Rotary.

Until the shrimp runs out, $15 is the festival’s admission fee. It includes unlimited boiled shrimp. After the seafood is gone, the gate fee is $5.

Music remains at the forefront of the festival, though the roster was whittled from 15 last year to six this year.

“We call it the Bayou Music Festival because we hire bands from the bayou area,” Collins said. Seven South, Gary T and Vin Bruce, the Sugar Cane Band, Cheramie Band and 90 Degrees West are the scheduled bands.

A children’s area is also setup. It features bounce houses, face painting and various other games. It is supervised, so parents can enjoy the music while their children play games. Admission into the “kids’ zone” is $5.

Furniture, sports memorabilia, paintings and barbecue pits are typically auctioned. Crafts vendors are permitted to sell “anything that’s legal,” Collins said, handmade, original or not. “The only thing we don’t let people sell are concessions because that’s how we make our money,”

The Rotary Club injects most proceeds into local causes. Five Nicholls State University students are paying for their education with $3,500 scholarships. Thirty families received toys and books in time for Christmas last year. And roughly 3,000 people were fed during the power-less days following Hurricane Isaac last year.

The Rotary Bayou Music Festival and Shrimp Boil-off is open from 11 a.m., Saturday, until 1:30 a.m., Sunday. For more information, email mjc_mdc@yahoo.com.

Nonc Nu and da Wild Matous play last year’s Rotary Bayou Music Festival. The event returns Oct. 12 with six bands.

COURTESY PHOTO