I’ve covered the Rajun Cajun Crawfish Festival benefiting Porter-Leath many times over the years. I even bought funny bright red caps adorned with (fake) crawfish pincers and crawfish deely boppers, which I wore in photos that I hope were funny at the time.
But it’s hard for me to believe the last Rajun (one of the hardest words to write on a computer) Cajun Crawfish Festival I covered was three years ago. That was the last one before the most recent festival, which was April 24, 2022.
“We had a drive-through last year,” says Porter-Leath communications director Mary Braddock. “And the year before that was canceled.”
This year’s 29th Rajun Cajun Crawfish Festival was at the same location — between Wagner Place and Union Avenue. And it featured the same crawfish vendor. “They drive in thousands of pounds of fresh crawfish straight to us from Louisiana. Fresh Gulf crawfish,” Braddock says, “and they steam and season it on sight.”
They brought 16,000 pounds this year, Braddock says. “We sold out about 6:30. Thirty minutes before we closed, we were out of crawfish. People were really excited to be down there.”
Once again, I didn’t eat any crawfish at the festival because I didn’t want to smell like crawfish all day. The only place I eat crawfish is at my dining room table, where I can be as messy as I want to be and I can reek of crawfish the rest of the day. Okay, I will eat chef Erling Jensen’s crawfish bisque in public at his restaurant, Erling Jensen: The Restaurant. That is an iconic item on Jensen’s menu. And as an added bonus, someone else did the work of pulling the meat out of the crawfish.
These days, if I attend a crawfish boil, I’ll just eat the potatoes and maybe the corn instead of the crawfish, which, hopefully, the host or hostess will bag up for me to take home.
Now don’t get me wrong — I love the taste of crawfish no matter how much work is involved to get that tiny bite. And the Rajun Cajun festival is one of my favorite events of the year. It’s held in the spring, and people are ready to get outside and party.
About 35,000 people attended this year’s event, Braddock says. According to its news release, the festival included “crawfish bobbing, eating, and racing contests.”
More than 24 gumbo teams competed in the Cash Saver Gumbo Cook-off.
The event included a Kids Area on Riverside Drive, and they also had live music on two stages.
And there were food trucks, including at least one I saw that sold — you guessed it — crawfish.
“Rajun Cajun,” the press release states, “is the largest one-day crawfish festival in the Mid-South.”
And each year “the festival supports free programs and services that Porter-Leath provides for over 40,000 local children and their families to achieve healthy, optimal, and independent lifestyles.”
Where Was Bianca?
The “Return to Studio 54” party could have been called “Return to a Memphis Brooks Museum of Art Party.” It was the first “true members opening [party] since the pandemic,” says Jeff Rhodin, director of marketing and communications at Brooks.
It was great to be back at a Brooks party. The event featured performances by High Expectations Aerial Arts and food from Paradox Catering & Consulting.
Everything centered around the Brooks exhibits “Andy Warhol: Silver Clouds” and “Andy Warhol’s Little Red Book.” The party also featured an introduction to Warhol by Brooks chief curator Rosamund Garrett, associate curator of modern and contemporary art Dr. Patricia Daigle, and curatorial fellow Heather Nickels. Daigle was curator of “Little Red Book” and Nickels was curator of “Silver Clouds.”
Bianca Jagger wasn’t there. Nor was Liza Minelli. But some guests dressed in their wildest best to commemorate Studio 54, which was a trendy New York disco back in the ’70s.
We Saw You Cards Are Back
I passed out my first “We Saw You” cards, which tell you where to find my photos on Instagram, on April 24th at the Rajun Cajun Crawfish Festival. It was the first time since before the pandemic that I gave people my calling card at an event.
So, get ready to be inundated at future events with these (non)collectible cards that feature half of my face and other Memphis Flyer info.
