A is for Art, Alligators, and Andouille -- #atozchallenge

Today I begin my virtual tour of Louisiana festivals as part of the annual A to Z Blogging Challenge. My goal is to highlight various aspects of Louisiana culture as they are celebrated throughout towns and cities across the Bayou State. I have been to many of the festivals I'll write about this month, but many more I have not. An extra benefit of the Challenge is that I'll add to my adventure to-do list.

Many of the festivals I feature will be found here in my hometown of Lake Charles, La. After all, with over 70 annual festivals, the Lake City is known as the festival capital of Louisiana! Plus, I love to tout the merits of southwest Louisiana.

A is for Art, Alligators, and Andouille Sausage!

The Arts and Crabs Festival takes place every summer here in Lake Charles. At this annual fundraiser for the Arts and Humanities Council, numerous local chefs and restaurants feature their best crab dishes while artists display their work. And no festival is complete without lively music. Find out more here.

This is a photo of one of my favorite watercolor artists in Lake Charles, Sue Zimmermann, taken at the 2011 Arts and Crabs Fest.

The Rotary Club of St. Charles Parish in Luling sponsors an Alligator Festival each September. Enjoy carnival rides, a 5K race, arts and crafts, a golf tournament, music, and of course, food, including alligator burgers, alligator sauce piquant, fried alligator, smoked alligator sausage, alligator tamales, and seafood alligator gumbo.



What is Louisiana cooking without Andouille sausage? October 2016 marks the 43rd annual Andouille Festival in LaPlace. Andouille is one of those uniquely Louisiana things I'd never heard of until I moved to Louisiana. And then it took me years to learn how to pronounce it -- "an doo ee". It's a smoked pork sausage that originated in France. Which is why it's hard to pronounce. It's a primary ingredient in many Creole and Cajun recipes such as gumbo and jambalaya.



Stay tuned! Tomorrow you'll read about beer and boudin!

Arts and Crabs Festival 2015

Bob and I enjoy attending fun festivals and events that benefit a good cause. This past Saturday, we attended the 6th annual Arts and Crabs Fest!

This event raises money for the Arts and Humanities Council of Southwest Louisiana -- a very worthy cause! The Arts and Humanities Council promotes the unique and diverse culture, music, food, and people of our region by offering free public events throughout the year -- Gallery Promenade, Spring Art Walk, Live at the Lakefront. They host art camps, arts awards, and offer grants to other art and culture organizations. I can't imagine living in Lake Charles without the services they provide to the region.

Anyway, back to Arts and Crabs, this event was initiated in 2010 not only to raise funds for the organization but also to bring awareness to the region's seafood industry after the devastating BP oil spill. We first attended in 2011. You can read that post here. The event started out in a banquet room at the Civic Center and has become more popular with each passing year. They soon outgrow venues and this year they hosted the event at Burton Coliseum.

Tickets sell out and approximately 700 people attended this year. Eleven area restaurants and caterers offered samples of everything crab -- corn crab bisque, crab cornbread, crab pasta casserole, crab and cheese dip, to name a few. Our personal favorite was a crab cake (center top, below) by a soon-to-open restaurant called 1910, on Ryan St. Also good was a crab salsa (upper right below in larger bowl) by popular taco truck, The Sloppy Taco, and indeed, they won the people's choice award.

Also fun is that a local brewery -- this year Bayou Teche -- pairs samples of their beer with the dishes. Old New Orleans Rum Distillery was also on hand passing out samples.

Then there's the art. One of my favorite art friends, Sue Zimmerman was there. Love her!

This photo was lifted from my 2011 post. (Why didn't I take a photo of she and I together. I'm her biggest fan girl!)

New art friend, Melinda Antoon Cormier, was also there. She's terrific, too.

Photo lifted from her Facebook page.

And my super-creative jewelry maker friend, Andrea Beck of Tab Typewriter Key Jewelry.


Also lifted from Facebook.

 . . . as well as many other art vendors. And what is any event in Southwest Louisiana without music! Folk singers Thomas and Theresa opened the event, followed by the band Sinners.

Good food, drink, art, and music! What could be better?

Of course, the event was emceed by our ubiquitous man-about-town Braylin Jenkins, aka BrayJ.

What is your favorite festival/fundraiser?