TASTY MUDBUGS
Thousands gather at Overton Square for annual Crawfish Festival
On Saturday, Overton Square was ground zero for thousands of lovers of mudbugs as the 21st annual Crawfish Festival took place on Madison Avenue.
The day’s weather was perfect for spending the afternoon strolling Overton Square, shopping the wares of street vendors and generally just having a good time. But it was the tasty crustaceans that were the center of attention as tons of little red crawfish were freshly boiled and served to the crowd.
Festival founders Bill and Carla Baker, owners of Bayou Bar & Grill, served up more than two
and half tons of crawfish this year to the throngs of folks waiting in line for the festival’s main meal.
“We know this year was our biggest year yet,” said Carla. “We sold out of everything, including gumbo from our restaurant.”
“In fact, for the first time ever, the festival depleted its offerings of both crawfish and beer,” added Lisa Bobal, who co-owns of Backlot Productions with her husband, Ron. “The annual event has grown from a congenial gathering in a small parking lot to being the unofficial kickoff for the festival season in Memphis. We estimate that there were about 16,000 people who attended this year’s festival.”
As in previous years, many of the Overton Square area restaurants joined the fun offering their fare in addition to the festival’s crawfish. Eateries, like Memphis Pizza Cafe, set up tables on the sidewalk in front of their restaurant, and Square Olive had a tasting underway to send traffic to their store on the backside of the Madison Avenue shops. In addition to standing in line for crawfish, people lined up to take turns at the bean bag toss in the Tower Courtyard. Contributing to the street fair atmosphere, a culturally diverse Artists Market gave festival-goers a chance to shop and browse original artwork and crafts from more than 60 regional artists and artisans.
Three stages offered a variety of musical entertainment. The Main Stage showcased the talents of Delta blues artists R. L. Boyce, Robert Kimbrough, Sr., Garry Burnside, Lightnin’ Malcolm and Hill Country Folks. The Gyroscope stage brought father/son duo Zakk and Big Poppa Binns to the stage with their Delta Blues sound, as well as Davis Coen and Calvin Kimbrough, while students from the School of Rock performed in the Tower Courtyard. Additionally, an inflatable zip line set up in the parking lot next to Deli on the Square (formerly known as Bogie’s Delicatessen) gave the crowd another entertainment rush.