Cajun Festival is July 1

Grand Lake Festivals will host its 12th annual Arts, Crafts, Music and Cajun Festival in the air-conditioned comfort of the Grove Civic Center on Saturday, July 1. Doors open at 9 a.m. for a fun-filled day of wonderful arts and crafts booths, delicious Cajun food and entertainment throughout the day, complete with Mardi Gras beads and atmosphere.

Admission is free to the public. The food court will offer tasty Cajun food at affordable prices—come early and spend the day enjoying the delicious food, wonderful entertainment and shopping with talented arts & crafts vendors.

Rick Sprague will return this year with his band, “New Cajun,” Louisiana’s hottest Cajun band. This group has managed to stay loyal to the traditions of the genre of Cajun music, while infusing their own styles of Swamp Pop, Blues, Rock, Zydeco and Country into the mix. Their song list has helped to define their unique “Zyde-Cajun-Country” sound while conveying images of “life in South Louisiana” through great music.

The group, all natives of Louisiana, consists of Rick Sprague on the fiddle, Aaron Istre & Lolo Boudouin playing accordion and bass and leading the group in vocals. Ronnie Foutenot plays guitar and Brandon Boudouin is the drummer. It will be hard to sit still when New Cajun breaks out in favorite Cajun rhythms, so wear your dancing shoes and come prepared to enjoy the day.

Jana Jae, international touring star and founder of Grand Lake Festivals, Inc. and her own exciting band, Hotwire, will also go CAJUN. Their diverse musical style blends country fiddling, western swing, pop and the classics, producing exciting entertainment for audiences of all ages. They will alternate with New Cajun and others who will be performing on Saturday July 1 from 10 to 5.

Arts, crafts and food vendors will be participating, assuring everyone of a choice that will suit them, from beautifully hand-crafted jewelry to Native American art to a wide variety of foods. As always, the Cajun food is authentic and delicious. This year, shrimp and ham jambalaya, crawfish gumbo with rice, Cajun corn on a stick, and requested alligator on a stick will be available. More traditional foods will also be available.

The Arts, Crafts, Music & Cajun Festival has proven to be very successful each year and all are invited to enjoy this unique event in the Grand Lake area. This event devoted to good family entertainment is hosted by the non-profit organization, Grand Lake Festivals, Inc. with the assistance of the Oklahoma Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts. Local and area sponsors of this event include: Conoco Phillips, Thompson & Associates, Air Power Systems, Grand Savings Bank, Dairy Queen, First National Bank, Wal-Mart, Grand Bank, Bank of Grove, Best Western Timber Ridge Inn, Arvest Bank, Stonebrook Inn, Jan Galbraith, Gallery Southwest, Snider’s Camp, Drake’s Restaurant, Lungren Chevrolet, Cherokee Queen Motel, Grand River Abstract, Prairie Breeze, Ltd, Worley Luginbuel, Grand Rental Station, KGVE, The Chronicle of Grand Lake, The Grove Sun and the Grove Observer.