As I understand it, this is the third year for the festival and it's still growing. The guy selling boudin told us that this was the best attendance he's seen in the three years he's been there. The organizers at the Red River Chamber of Commerce worked hard to pull everything together this year and it turned out to be a really nice little festival.
Alas, not everything was perfect! We knew the day was in trouble when we went by Bailey's for our favorite greasy hamburgers and it was closed. The sign said they were closed due to a family emergency so I'm going to pray hard that everything is okay. They are nice people there and serve a great burger! This is what I wanted for lunch:
We were meeting friends Gary and Kay for lunch there before the festival so we had to scramble for an alternate plan, finally deciding just to go on to the fairgrounds and eat at the festival.
That turned out to be a good plan. We ended up getting BBQ from Jackson's Bend BBQ at the festival grounds. I got a sausage plate (so much for the diet) and Steve got a rib plate. Excellent!
Yes, that's Chicken Feet on the menu. I took a pass on that.
Steve and Gary clowning around waiting on our food:
I was pretty thrilled to get to hear Micki Fuhrman Milom singing as we walked up to the bandstand today. I've always loved her voice and she is a sweet, sweet lady.
She was sitting in with Airhart for "Red River Valley":
The art contest winners were announced and there were some happy winners!
One of the bands, Twang Darkly, had some unusual instruments, including a handmade electric gourd:
After lunch and a little music I had to walk around a little. There was a Kids Zone with a bounce house and other activities to keep them entertained:
This cute fellow was flying his kite:
The rain was holding off so we felt pretty lucky.
This was a popular booth for the kids, too:
Of course I had to shop at the jewelry booth:
Some pretty cool birdhouses caught my eye:
The crowd came and went through the day; this picture made me laugh because the first thing I noticed when I looked at it was all the folks pecking on their cell phones. This is especially ironic because cell service there was minimal at best.
The day started off with a car contest, a karaoke contest, and a treasure hunt before we got there.
I thought this kid was cute with his little friend perched on the edge of his table:
The Matthew Davidson Band played about 6:00:
Matthew Davidson is a wonderful guitar player, especially for his age, and will go far. He's a very polite and personable young man, too. There's a lot to be said for good manners these days!
We were holding out for the headliner Soulfish Blues Band to come on at 9:00 but as luck would have it, storm winds blew in and they had to call the festival before the last two bands came on stage. Nobody was interested in getting hit by lightning out there.
That lovely blue sky in that picture is nice but to my back was a bank of black, ugly clouds and lots of lightning so we all packed up and moved out.
Storm or not, it was a nice day in Coushatta and we enjoyed the festival. We will go back next year and watch it grow! It's a nice, family friendly event that seems to be getting better each year.
The SIGIS Take a Trip Series:
Take a Trip to the 2012 Natchitoches Christmas Festival
Take a Trip to the 2012 Grand Cane Pioneer Day and Christmas Parade
Take a Trip to the 2012 Defenders of Liberty Air Show at BAFBTake a Trip to the 2012 Grand Cane Pioneer Day and Christmas Parade
Take a Springtime Trip to Second Hand Rose Antiques in Minden, LA
Take a Trip to Logansport, Louisiana
Take a Trip to the Lock and Dam on Red River
Take a Trip to the 2012 Barkus and Meoux Parade
Take a Christmas Shopping Trip to Second Hand Rose in Minden
Take a Trip to the Fourth Annual Barksdale AFB Oktoberfest
Take a Trip to Grand Cane's Fifth Annual Pioneer Trade Day
Take a Trip to the 2011 Highland Jazz & Blues Festival
Take an Autumn Trip to Jefferson, Texas
Take a Fall Trip to Second Hand Rose Antiques in Minden
Take a Trip to the 8th Air Force Museum at Barksdale Air Force Base
Take a Summertime Trip to Grand Cane
Take a Trip to Desoto Parish
Take a Summer Trip to Second Hand Rose Antiques in Minden
Take a Trip to Natchitoches and Melrose Plantation
Take a Trip to Ed Lester Farms and a Random Antique Stop
Take a Trip to the Norton Art Gallery and the Masters of Cuban Art Exhibit
Take a Trip to Natchitoches to See the Christmas Lights
Take a Trip to the Third Annual BAFB Oktoberfest
Take a Trip to Natchitoches and Oakland Plantation
Take a Trip to Jefferson, Texas
Oktoberfest at BAFB
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