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October 25, 2018
The 15th Annual Voice of the Wetlands Festival in Houma, held this past weekend, was a spectacle of music and culture that started with Clyde Pellegrin and Friends on Friday night and ended with Louisiana’s LeRoux on Sunday. Featured in between were famous names in Swamp Pop, Zydeco, Blues, Rock, Country and Cajun music, bands that captivated audiences for three days like Grammy winner Chubby Carrier and the Bayou Swamp Band. There were special late night jams, too, that lasted well into the morning hours.
The festival is the signature event of the Voice of the Wetlands organization whose mission is to draw attention to the disappearing Louisiana coastline and emphasize the importance of preserving our remaining wetlands.
The president and face of Voice of the Wetlands is Tab Benoit, a 1985 graduate of Vandebilt High School. He is the recipient of several Blues Music awards and was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame in 2010. Benoit has seen the devastating changes to the landscape from the front row. He watched his family’s 300 acres of cypress swamp, bayous and trees dwindle to 40. This was the place he grew up, he says, where he was inspired to write his first songs, and now it’s under water.
Bryan Bunn, the event coordinator and member of the VOW board, explained how the organization was established in 2004. “When we started we
realized we needed a bigger voice to push our message, ideas and programs forward.” They worked hard to get local and state politicians involved, and over the years their voice has reached an international audience. Even the volunteers who help run the festival come from New Boston, Texas, St.Louis, Missouri, Chicago, Illinois, Florida. Pam Johnston of Ft. Worth said she was there “as a lover of the blues, a fan of Tab Benoit and a supporter of what this is all about.”
The festival had two main stages. The Red Dog Saloon area boasted that their temporary bar was constructed by Terrebonne Career and Technical High School carpentry students.
Artistic offerings included original paintings for sale as well as auction. Artist Hans Geist donated a portrait of Tab Benoit through the festival’s art market, which was auctioned for $6,000.
The food is cooked by “only local chefs,” says Bryan Bunn. “We wanted to present music and promote the unique bayou culture experience of southeast Louisiana. Not New Orleans.” Though alligator drumsticks, cane syrup sausage poboys and shrimp touffee were on the menu, the alligator sauce piquant sold out early. Benoit’s mother-in-law, Arzy Dailey, has volunteered every year since the beginning. “We do the sweets, get the pies and cakes ready.”
In line with the festival’s mission of preservation, many of the arts and crafts vendors used recyclable materials for their distinctive handiwork. Penny Tyler sold Cajun disco balls made from recycled Mardi Gras beads. Her parents lost their home in Waveland, Ms. during Hurricane Katrina. She knows “Life is way more important than stuff. I take stuff that is bad for the environment and make useful and pretty stuff.” Frank Marks is a self-taught artist from Bayou Dularge. He was selling recycled tin and wood birdhouses and feeders that looked like churches, but his usual artwork is on canvas using pastel chalks and colored pencils. Deurty Boys is owned by Rev. Varg Vargas and another local, Jeremy Hebert. They use salvaged wood from houses in New Orleans to create small and large pieces like the life-size Rougarou on display at their booth. The festival’s posters are always collector’s items. For the past two years Steve Johannsen has designed this official commemorative artwork rich in color as well as regional lore and imagery.
The Voice of the Wetlands Festival combines fun with a serious message. That message is being spread through word of mouth, through the film “Hurricane on the Bayou” at the IMAX Theater in New Orleans, by the yearly music festival, but mostly through the relentless efforts of a dedicated group of people determined to stop the mindless destruction of one of this country’s most beautiful ecosystems.
