Living Ind

Whatcha Got Cookin'?

by Dege Legg

The third annual Black Pot Festival returns to Acadiana for a weekend of music, food and camping. The South Louisiana Black Pot Festival & Cookoff returns this weekend with great music, dancing, food, camping and jamming. Celebrating its third anniversary, the festival is a cooperative of south Louisiana and national musicians, artists, and roots enthusiasts who get together one weekend a year to camp on the grounds of Acadian Village and rejoice in all things folk-roots related, culminating in an old-fashioned black pot cookoff.

Started in 2006 by members of the Red Stick Ramblers as an excuse to get together with friends, strangers, fans, and family, it quickly bloomed into a “folkapalooza” type celebration with everyone camping out on the Acadian Village grounds in tents and RVs. “I grew up hunting, fishing, cooking, and camping with my father and grandfather in the Cajun tradition,” says fiddler and vocalist Linzay Young, “and there’s nothing that brings people in quicker than a pot cooking on an open fire — it’s like a magnet. That was the initial inspiration for us putting it together.”

In addition to the black pot cookoff, there will be a ton of after-hours jamming around the fire, as well as full water and electric hook-ups for RVs and plenty of space to set up tents. Performers at this year’s Black Pot Festival include Balfa Toujours, Lafayette Rhythm Devils, Carol Fran, Cedric Watson, D.L. Menard, The Racines, Preston Frank and Ed Poullard, Jay Ungar, Molly Mason and Swingology, Pine Leaf Boys, Feufollet, Ginny Hawker, and Tracy Schwarz.

“We’ve got the best people and community in the world down here,” says Young. “It’s really something special that you don’t find in other parts of the world. You can’t stop it.”

The gates to Acadian Village open at 3 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 24, for the South Louisiana Blackpot Festival & Cookoff at 200 Greenleaf Drive in Lafayette. The music continues on Saturday morning with the gates opening at 9 a.m. and music starting at noon. For more information and a complete schedule of performances, visit www.blackpotfestival.com.