On Monday, Oct. 31, the Cajun Cottage Halloween Party was held at Homestead Hall in Jenkintown. Everyone enjoyed dancing to a mix of old-time Zydeco and great snacks including lots of trick-or-treat candy, cookies, pumpkin tarts, apple cider and Octoberfest beer!
Here are a few of the great costumes that were worn by most of the dancers in attendance.
This year October 31 falls on a Monday. After some consideration of having a Halloween Party on Friday the 28th, Saturday the 29th, or Sunday the 30th, it has been decided that Halloween is, after all, on 10/31 and only 10/31! Therefore … on Monday, October 31, this year’s Cajun Cottage Boo-fest will be held at Homestead Hall, with a Zydeco dance lesson at 7:00 p.m. and dancing from 8:00 to 10:30. It will feature the Ghost of Zydeco Past, with DJ How playing lots of your favorite old-time Zydeco by the greatest Louisiana musicians of days gone by! Prizes for best costumes, plenty of pumpkin pie, black and orange jelly beans, candy corn and other ghoulish goodies and spooky snacks. $10 admission includes dance lesson & snacks. BYOB (beer & wine only). For more information, call 267-888-7276.
Another sold-out Cajun Cottage Field Trip will be heading to Maryland on Sunday, October 23 for Dancing by the Bayou, the Fall Music & Dance Festival at Glen Echo Park’s beautiful Spanish Ballroom. Four great bands will play Creole and Zydeco music from noon until 5:30 p.m. that afternoon.
Andre Thierry & Zydeco Magic will open the show, followed by Dennis Stroughmatt & Creole Stomp. Andre Thierry represents the best of West Coast Zydeco, and is a standard bearer for the new generation, while French speaking Creole accordionist and fiddler Dennis Stroughmatt continues the long tradition of Mississippi River valley French Creole music.
At 2:45, Nathan Williams & the Zydeco Cha-Chas hit the stage. Nathan and his band have been playing their unique brand of authentic Zydeco music for over 20 years. Closing the show will be Curley Taylor & Zydeco Trouble. Curley is a native of southern Louisiana whose modern Zydeco is informed by years of experience playing with his father’s band, Jude Taylor & His Burning Flames, as well as many of Louisiana’s most legendary performers.
We are looking forward to a fun day of dancing to great music!
On Monday, September 19, a dozen friends of Cajun Cottage joined forces for a day trip to hear Chubby Carrier and the Bayou Swamp Band perform a Tribute to Roy Carrier at the Surf Club in Hyattsville, MD. The free dance was Chubby’s idea, and it was a gift to the many dancers who had loved and supported his dad during the years Roy toured the east coast Zydeco circuit.
A brand new fifteen passenger van provided a comfortable ride to the show. Starting from Plymouth Meeting Mall at 3:00 Monday afternoon, a group of seven riders headed south to meet the other five members of the excursion at the Delaware Welcome Center on I-95 near Newark. After picking up the rest of the group, the van continued south and reached its destination almost an hour before showtime, allowing everyone to walk to nearby restaurants to purchase pizza, sandwiches and snacks.
The show got underway at 7:00, when Chubby and his band mates began playing two sets of Zydeco including many of Roy Carrier’s classic songs. The dance floor was crowded with enthusiastic fans from up and down the east coast, as well as some visitors from as far away as Texas. During the band’s break, a large chocolate sheet cake decorated with the words “Thank You” was provided by Chubby for the dancers to enjoy. By the end of the show at 10:00, a sweaty and exhausted but happy group of Philly Zydeco fans regrouped in the parking lot to board the van for the ride home. We dropped off the Delaware contingent a bit after midnight, and arrived back in Plymouth Meeting around 1:30 a.m.
It was the first time that Cajun Cottage arranged a group outing, but it was such a fun day that it will not be the last! Stay tuned for an announcement about our next field trip, coming in October.
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