All hail, the Cast Net King

His legend is growing faster than the dead zone off the Louisiana coast.

Cast Net King has promised to emerge again out of the swamp gas to appear at the 2008 La Fete D’Ecologie, sponsored by the Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program.

The one-day festival of south Louisiana folklife takes place on Saturday, Nov. 15, at the Jean Lafitte Wetlands Acadian Cultural Center (314 St. Mary Street, La. Hwy. 1) from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

“It’s designed to educate people about the amazing environment they live in, the history of the region and the unique blend of cultures found in the estuary,” said program publicist Shelley Sparks.

It’s also intended to entertain and satisfy your stomach.

Musically, this year’s La Fete D’Ecologie features the Lost Bayou Ramblers, a roots Cajun music band from Pilette, Louisiana who were nominated for a Grammy in 2008 for the CD “Live A La Blue Moon” in the new Best Zydeco or Cajun Music category.

“The wetlands are part of our focus,” said Ramblers singer/fiddler Louie Michot, whose father was a wetlands biologist. “We bring light to the issue of our eroding wetlands.”

Other acts at the festival will be Cadien Toujours, Drew Landry and Foret Tradition.

Food items will include what you would expect to find at a gathering celebrating south Louisiana-poboys, jambalaya, crab cakes and bread pudding.

New offerings this year will be pine-needle basket weaving and children’s storytelling with Dolores Henderson, Sparks said.

Festival-goers can observe those activities, plus gourd carving, pirogue carving (along with other dugout carving) and duck decoy carving. And visitors can watch chair-caning and cast nets being made.

“Traditional folk crafters, government agencies, nonprofits and educational groups participate every year to teach children and adults about the history, culture and bounty of the environment, as well as their efforts to restore Louisiana’s wetlands,” Sparks said.

The festival will also have canoe races and a cast-net throwing competition, ceremonially presided over by Cast Net King, adorned with authentic costumery consisting of a juju stick, Spanish moss and post-Halloween trinkets found on discount racks at dollar stores across south Louisiana.

At the time of last year’s La Fete D’Ecologie, the King lived by himself in the swamp 45 minutes south of Thibodaux.

This year, the King has taken up cozy semi-retirement near Lafayette with one-armed Cajun Trader from the 1981 movie “Southern Comfort,” who went legit after watching his illegal hide-gathering operation being destroyed.

Cajun Trader said about Cast Net King, “He really does have the hoodoo with the mojo.”

All hail, the Cast Net King