Arts & Crabs Fest Returns To Spotlight SWLA Seafood

Ok seafood lovers, this is the festival for you!!! Get ready to taste great local cuisine form chefs and restaurants in the lake area.  The Arts & Humanities Council just released this info about the Seafood Festival:

Southwest Louisiana’s only seafood festival is back! That’s right, the second annual Arts & Crabs Fest will make landfall again on Saturday, August 20^th, from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Lake Charles Civic Center. Arts & Crabs Fest draws together our cultural identity, the arts, and Louisiana’s invaluable seafood industry to not only educate locals and visitors on the cultural and economic importance of locally caught seafood but to also offer an all-encompassing experience of Southwest Louisiana’s tastes, sounds, and sights.

In concert with the Lake Charles/SWLA Convention and Visitors Bureau, Arts & Crabs aims to ensure the continuity of Southern Louisiana’s food culture by celebrating the reconstruction and rebirth of Cameron Parish’s seafood industry after Hurricane Rita in 2005 and the BP oil spill in 2010. This act of creating an event centered on Louisiana’s culinary culture inspires pride in our community while encouraging locals to take part in the rebuilding and rediscovery of their Cajun and Creole cultural heritages.

From 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., ten local chefs from your favorite restaurants will prepare and serve crab dishes that are most representative of Southwest Louisiana from crab cakes and crab po-boys to crab-stuffed jalapenos and bisques. Each dish will be served with a different Abita beer sample as the meal’s complementary pairing as an engaging way to expose locals to the flavors and aromas of Louisiana brews. Participating restaurants include Big Daddy’s, Harlequin Steaks & Seafood, 121 Bistro, Cypress Grill at Graywood Plantation, Sha Sha’s of Creole, Coyote Blues, Sabine Pass Crab Shack, and Pujo St. Café.

Arts & Crabs Fest will be held on the second and third floors of the Civic Center and will feature the best in live music with local Cajun roots band the LakeSide Gamblers opening the day at 4 p.m. When the sun goes down at 6 p.m., critically acclaimed Southern blues band Grayson Capps and the Lost Cause Minstrels will bring their raucous roadhouse blues and back country stomp to the Arts & Crabs stage. The day will also feature vendor booths, beverage sales, and an art walk featuring the best of local artists. Admission to Arts & Crabs Fest is a $25 wristband and grants the purchaser access to the entire festival and all of the crab dishes and beer samples.

At 7:45 p.m., the Arts Council’s annual Gold Key Quest raffle drawing will take place, and ten lucky ticket holders who purchased a $50 ticket will receive fabulous prizes, including a $10,000 cash grand prize provided in part by Bolton Ford, American Airline round trip tickets, A $1,000 VISA Gift Card provided by First Federal Bank of Louisiana, original art work by Sally Cappel and Anne Dentler, a George Rodrigue screen print, a Big Lake guided fishing tour with Captain Allen Singletary, a “Gator on the Geaux” provided by L’Auberge du Lac Casino Resort, a LSU fan’s dream package, and a weekend retreat at Hermes Fish-N-Lodge. Ticket holders need not be present to win.
With sponsorship by the Louisiana Seafood Promotions and Marketing Board, the Lake Charles/SWLA Convention and Visitors Bureau, KVHP/FOX 29/the CW, Abita Beer, Bolton Ford, Knight Media, Inc., Coca-Cola, Tobacco Free Living, the Jambalaya News, the City of Lake Charles, the American Press, and Union Pacific, Arts & Crabs Fest is quickly becoming a substantial Louisiana festival.

Wristbands and $50 Gold Key Quest raffle drawing tickets are available online at the Arts Council’s new website www.artsandhumanitiesswla.org or at the Arts Council office located in Central School Arts & Humanities Center, Suite 202 in Lake Charles. Call (337) 439-ARTS today to find out more information.

SO bring your appetite and get ready for some of the best seafood the Lake Area has to offer!!!