"Good Times on the River" Information Flyer
Bon Temps
Fifth Annual Lagniappe Dulcimer Fête
March 10-12 2006, Port Allen, Louisiana
with pre-fête workshops on March 9, 2006
The Lagniappe Dulcimer Society invites you to join us for the Fifth Annual Lagniappe Dulcimer Fête in Port Allen, Louisiana in March 2006.
Hurricane Katrina blew through Louisiana in September 2005 in a big way. Both Baton Rouge and Port Allen have largely recovered. We're proceeding with our festival in March, 2006 as planned and promise a great time with plenty of workshops, jam sessions, vendors, open stage and concerts. Please join us in March, 2006 for a wonderful dulcimer experience.
Instructors:
We're featuring some excellent performers and workshop leaders for your enjoyment this year. Workshops for all levels of players are included for mountain and hammered dulcimers and other acoustic folk instruments. Featured performers are:
Robert Force - Washington, Mountain Dulcimer
Lois Hornsbostel - North Carolina, Mountain Dulcimer
Steve Heiser - Texas, Hammered Dulcimer, Guitar, Banjo
Quintin Stephens - Texas, Mountain Dulcimer
Karen & Chuck Daniels- Missouri, Autoharp and autoharp repair
Hazel and the Delta Ramblers - New Orleans, Louisiana -- fiddle,guitar, upright bass, songs of New Orleans,
Denise Guillory- Louisiana, Hammered & Mountain Dulcimer
Paul Andry - Louisiana, Mountain Dulcimer and Louisiana Culture
Place:
The fête will be held at the PortAllenCommunity Center,
749 N. Jefferson Ave., Port Allen, Louisiana.
Port Allen is across the river from Baton Rouge along Interstate 10. The WestBaton RougeMuseum, about ½ block away, is the site for workshop classes. Registration, vendors, jamming, meals and concerts will be held at the Community Center.
Arrival time, fête begins:
1. Registration for the festival begins at 3:00 pm on Thursday, March 9 in the Community Center.
2. The fete begins Thursday with boiled crawfish sampling at 5:00 pm,covered dish supper at 5:30 pm, and concert at 7:00 pm
3. Planned activities are two pre-festival mountain dulcimer workshops and a Cajun cooking workshop on Thursday afternoon. These require separate registration and are on a limited seating basis.
4. Before supper, the Broussard family will boil crawfish, Cajun style, as an appetizer for our out-of-town guests to sample. Then bring your favorite dish to share at our get acquainted supper at 5:30 After supper we're planning a "lagniappe" concert at 7:00 pm. Lagniappe in French means "a little extra." This concert will feature surprises and Mardi Gras fun. We'll finish the evening with jamming.
Raffle for bowed psaltery: wear an old dulcimer festival-shirt and bring one to exchange Thursday evening during supper at 5:30 p. Where do you come from? Wear an old festival or dulcimer club T-shirt to supper on Thursday evening and be eligible for a bowed psaltery made by Lagniappe club member, Bob Gullic.
Accommodations:
We have reserved a block of rooms at the Holiday Inn Express on Rt. 415 in Port Allen directly off Interstate 10. This is about 3 miles from the festival. Call the hotel directly at 225-343-4821 and ask to get the special fête rate of $63.00 plus tax by mentioning the Lagniappe Dulcimer Fête. Other area motels include:
1. Best Western Magnolia Manor, 225-244-3639
234 Lobdell Hwy, Port Allen, LA
2. Audubon Inn, 225-383-7188
722 Lobdell Hwy, Port Allen, LA
3. Port Allen Inn & Suites (formally a Day's Inn Suite) 225-749-8554
3051 Hwy 1 South, Port Allen, LA
Camping:
Thereare several options for camping.
Charlie LeBlanc has secured 30 dry camping spots about ½ block away for campers who are totally self-contained. These spots are on a first come, first serve reservation basis. Please call either Charlie or Maylee to reserve a spot.
1. The Cajun Country Campground is about 4 miles away with water, electricity and showers. These spots are also on first come, first serve basis,please reserve early. Call the campground at 1-800-264-8554 to reserve a site. The campground is not associated with our festival. It has wonderful facilities, but there are several other great camping alternatives in the area if this campground is full.
2. A KOA Campground is located in Denham Springs, Louisiana, approximately 28 miles east of Port Allen on Interstate 10. This is:
KOA East, 225-664-7281, 7628 Vincent Road, Denham Sprints, LA
Interstate 12 at Exit 10
3.The Farr Campground on River Road in Baton Rouge, approximately 5 miles from the fete. It's a wonderful rustic area and has both RV and tent camping. It has 30 and 50 amp hook-ups, water but no sewer. There is a bath house and laundry facility.
FarrParkHorseActivityCenter, 225-769-7805
6402 River Road, Baton Rouge, LA
4. The Lakeside RV Park is located in Livingston, LA about 30 miles east of Port Allen on Interstate 10 at Exit 22. It is 2 years old, on an 18 acre lake and has received rave reviews from past campers. It has both 30 and 50 amp hookups.
Lakeside RV Park, 225-686-7676
28310 S. Frost Road, Livingston, LA
Air Travel:
The Baton Rouge airport is conveniently located about 20 minutes away from the fete, across the Mississippi River in Baton Rouge. There are many additional flights to accommodate the New Orleans influx. Car rentals are available at the airport.
Pre-fête Workshops on Thursday Afternoon
March 9, 1:00 - 4:30 PM
Come spend a relaxing afternoon learning to play the dulcimer with one of our two featured mountain dulcimer instructors: Robert Force and Lois Hornsbostel. Or spend an afternoon with a Cajun chef, Mama Redell, learning some of the secrets of how to prepare our unique cuisine.
These workshops are $35.00 and each is limited to 15 participants, so that our instructors may give individual suggestions and guidance. Pre-registration is required, so sign up early!
1. Novice Mountain Dulcimer Players, (can strum with ease and play several songs in DAD tuning on the melody string),
Robert Force, “Strumming and Flatpicking”
2. Intermediate Mountain Dulcimer Players, (can strum and play chords with ease in DAD tunings and can re-tune the dulcimer to DAD and DGD tunings, can use a capo),
Lois Hornbostel, “Creative and Power Playing Skills”
3. Cajun Cooking & Tasting, (players and non-players, aspiring chefs),
Mama Redell, Cajun Chef - Learn the secrets of making a roux, gumbo, jambalaya and a surprise. Be prepared to chop vegetables and participate in hands-on cooking in this lively workshop. Then taste what you’ve prepared. Mama Redell, from Scott, Louisiana, will lead the workshop and will share stories of her Cajun heritage.
Contacts: Would you like more information?
Charlie LeBlanc - Camping at Community Center - -
225-749-5705
MaryAnn Walker - Vendors - -
Maylee Samuels - Fete Chairman, Schedule, Performers, General Info - - 225-926-8581
Larie Whitt - Registration Info - - 225-791-9959
Sandra Sanford - Registration Info - - 225-756-2061
Visit our WEB site
Gives updated information, such as our schedule and camping suggestions.
Activities on Friday and Saturday
We have many activities and events planned in addition to traditional workshops. These include:
1. Workshops and Jam Sessions - Friday and Saturday, morning and afternoon.
2. Concerts - Friday evening concert at 7:00 pm features Lois Hornbostel, Steve Heiser and Quintin Stephens. Public admission is $5.00/ticket
Saturday night's concert at 7:00 pm features Robert Force, Guy George and Hazel and the Delta Ramblers. Also our new Louisiana State Mountain Dulcimer Champion will perform. Public admission is $5.00/0ticket.
We’ll also planning a concert at noon on Saturday, no charge.
3. School Performances Friday Morning - our featured performers and fete attendees visit public and parochial elementary schools in the parish and perform. This is a rewarding experience to share our music with the children in the community, including Katrina evacuees.
4. Children's Performance–At Thursday evening’s concert, parochial children will attend the fête and perform dulcimer music that they have been learning during the year.
5. Open Stage - Friday afternoon, sign-up to perform on our open stage and share your music with the audience.
6. Band Scramble - Friday morning sign-up to join a random group of workshop attendees. Prepare a number to perform on open stage Friday afternoon.
7. Crazy Club Contest - sign up with your dulcimer club to bring your craziest club song to perform on Saturday afternoon at our contest. It is lots of fun and anything goes.
8. First Annual Louisiana State Mountain DulcimerChampionship - Who's the best dulcimer player in Louisiana? Come join and/or listen to the competition on Saturday morning beginning at 9:00 am. Play-off's are at 1:00 pm on Saturday afternoon. The champion will perform at our concert on Saturday evening. Complete instructions are found on our WEB page.
9.Ending ceremony on Sunday morning - The festival ends with a closing ceremony on Sunday morning at 9:30 am and an inspirational service. Bring your dulcimer to play and sing-along. Words and chords to many of our favorite hymns will be posted for you to follow along.
10. Clean-up - There's a lot to do to clean up after the festival. You are welcome to stay around to pitch-in Sunday morning after the gospel sing-along.
Other information
Fete Raffle for dulcimers.
At Saturday evening concert we will raffle two dulcimers:
1. a beautiful mountain dulcimer donated by Terry McCafferty,
2. hammered dulcimer donated by David Lindsey.
You must be present to win either of the dulcimers, raffled separately.
We will also have many other items for raffle featuring our Louisiana culture and dulcimers.
Jam Sessions - Many folks come to jam. We'll have scheduled jam sessions during the festival lead by clubs from around the country, as well as our own workshop leaders and club members.
T-Shirt. We have a new T-shirt design for this year's fête. See the design on our WEB page. It features an alligator playing the dulcimer, “Good Times on the River." Our T-shirt is designed by local artist Ms. Ferguson.
Tote Bags - We'll have "Lagniappe Fête" tote bags for sale at the fête. Great for carrying around all your dulcimer stuff. Get you name painted on the second side by one of our vendors to personalize your bag.
Cajun Catered Meals - Our Cajun chef, Gary LeBlanc, promises to cook up some delicious Cajun food again on Friday night and Saturday night. Friday supper we will serve Fried Catfish dinner and Saturday we'll have Jambalaya with all the trimmings. Desserts are a surprise.
Lunches - Lunches are for sale at the fete from local civic clubs for about $6.00 per meal. Menus vary,-and tickets are available for sale that morning.
Local Restaurants - There are many restaurants, both locally and across the river in Baton Rouge, which offer outstanding meals of our local cuisine. We have a list of Lagniappe dulcimer player's favorite spots. It's on our WEB page and will be included in your registration packet.
Would you like to lead a jam session? We occasionally have slots for jam session leaders. If you have a talent to share, please let us know. Indicate your preference on your registration form.