Festival season is officially upon us and Crawfest at Tulane University is a unique yearly event not to miss. With a massive 16,000 pounds of crawfish being served along with three stages of local music on Tulane’s beautiful campus, this is the fest to bring your friends and enjoy all day. Crawfest is free and open to the public on Saturday, April 16th from 11am-9pm. All you can eat crawfish is free for Tulane students and only $10 for community members.
This year will mark the 5th Annual Crawfest. The first Crawfest was founded in April 2007 after a year of planning by three students who were members of the “Katrina Class” (freshmen who had to evacuate just after arriving at Tulane in 2005).
“When these students returned to Tulane in the spring of 2006 they immediately became very invested in New Orleans music and food, funk and crawfish,” says Becky Sahm, Chair of the Crawfest Committee. “After receiving funding from the Undergraduate Student Government and the Residence Hall Government, this event was underway.”
This year Crawfest has doubled the event space across Tulane’s campus and is expecting its biggest crowds yet, with a total of 8,000+ attendees.
“In just five years the event has grown tremendously. This year’s event boasts new and exciting changes including the addition of a third stage, a total of twelve local bands, ten local food vendors, and fifteen local art vendors,” says Sahm.
Crawfest has been increasing each year in popularity among community members of the city, not just college students. The musical acts featured at the event such as the Givers, Anders Osborne, and Flow Tribe, can be enjoyed by people of all ages. Crawfest has also partnered with Roots of Music this year, an after-school program that tutors and teaches music to students ages 8-14. Students who maintain a 2.5 GPA can participate in the Roots of Music marching band, which will be performing at Crawfest this year with an act of 100 local students. Catch them from 3:15-4:15pm at the Student Affairs Stage.
“I’d say the biggest highlight this year is watching what used to just be a Tulane festival, turn into a festival that the whole city will flock to,” says Sahm. “My hope is that Crawfest joins the ranks of other classic New Orleans festivals, bringing more of New Orleans to Tulane and more of Tulane to the New Orleans community.”
For more information on Crawfest, visit their website here: http://crawfest.tulane.edu/index.html
2011 Crawfest Music Schedule
11:00-11:45 Mississippi Rail Company
11:45-12:15 Baby Boyz Brass Band
12:15-1:15 Rockin’ Dopsie
1:15-1:45 Empress Hotel
1:45-2:45 Revivalists
2:45-3:15 Big History
3:15-4:15 The Roots of Music with Rebirth Brass Band
4:15-4:45 New Grass Country Club
4:45-5:45 Flow Tribe
5:45-6:45 101 Runners
6:45-7:45 Anders Osborne
7:45-9:00 Givers
Crawfest
Juliet Meeks
April 8, 2011
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