Coastal Companion

Your ultimate guide to the coast

Lowcountry Cajun Festival 2009 – Charleston

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Now you can experience a little bit of Louisiana in Charleston, South Carolina, when the Lowcountry  Cajun Fest comes to town this weekend. This event is an action packed day with Zydeco music, Cajun and Creole foods, children’s activities, mixed together southern style.

The 18th annual Lowcountry Cajun Festival heats up James Island County Park on Sunday, April 5, from noon-6pm!

Food and fun is what this festival is all about. Local and regional chefs cook up a variety of mouth-watering foods to tickle your taste buds  with authentic Cajun and Creole faire.  Enjoy jambalaya, alligator, etouffe, andouille sausage, and of course, lots and lots of crawfish!

People travel from near and far for huge servings of fresh, steaming crawfish – if you’re a crawfish connoisseur and fast eater, the annual crawfish-eating contest is the perfect opportunity to show off your unique talent!

Also enjoy Lowcountry favorites like red rice, seafood and tangy Southern barbecue.  And for those with less adventurous stomachs there’s also your regular festival food of hot dogs, burgers, funnel cakes and more.

Dance in the grassy fields to the irresistible sounds of Rosie Ledet & the Zydeco Playboys and Curley Taylor & Zydeco Trouble.  Other festivities include a crafter market and mechanical, inflatable, and carnival games for kids.

Admission is $10.  This event is free for ages 12 and under with paying adult.  Gold pass holders are admitted FREE to this event as well. Call 795-4FUN (4386) or visit www.ccprc.com/cajun!

37th Annual Flowertown Festival – Summerville, SC

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This is one of the most popular yearly spring festivals in South Carolina, and it’s definitely one of the biggest events in Summerville. The Flowertown Festival offers a little bit for everyone, from arts and crafts to great food and fun rides for the kids.

Arts and Crafts
Over 200 artisans from across the country come to the Flowertown Festival to show their skills and sell their art. You’ll find a wide variety of arts and crafts from painting, pottery, glassworking, to woodworking, needlework and much, much more!

2009 Taste of Summerville
You definitely can’t miss this area. Here you can taste some of the best food the Lowcountry has to offer!

Some of the area’s finest restaurants participate in the event. Food in this section of the Festival is purchased with FOOD TICKETS which are available for $1 each.

Children’s Jubilee
This is the kids special area. The Children’s Jubilee is located on S. Main Street. Here you’ll find rides, games, treats and special arts and crafts projects to entertain the young ones.

Click here for more details about the Flowertown Festival in Summerville, South Carolina.

Cooper River Bridge Run 2009 Charleston, SC

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Running across the bridge must be an extraordinary experience, and this is exactly what you can do if you participate in the Cooper River Bridge Run in Charleston on April 4th, 2009. The popular race goes across the bridge and further. The Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge is 2.5 miles long and 200 feet high . The slope is 4%. The towers stand 550 feet tall. The bridge offers an amazing view of Charleston and surrounding areas.

This is definitely one of the big sporting events in Charleston during the year. Thousands of runners participate in this well-known race.
Take a look at the video below for more information.

For more information about the race, visit www.Bridgerun.com

Springing the Blues 2009 – Jacksonville Beach

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Springing The Blues is an annual festival drawing a crowd of approximately 125,000 blues fans to Jacksonville Beach. Here you can experience performances from some of the nation’s top Blues performers. Springing The Blues is a free outdoor blues music festival. The goal of the festival is to celebrate blues.  The three-day oceanfront music festival features a selection of blues performers as well as other  activities for the whole family to enjoy.

Springing The Blues festival is traditionally held at Jacksonville Beach, Florida’s Oceanfront SeaWalk Pavilion on the first weekend of April each year.

A Few Festival Facts:

• Downbeat Magazine named Springing the Blues as one of the top 50 Music Festivals in the World

• SouthEast Tourism Society named the festival as one of the top 20 destination events in the U.S.

• Springing the Blues is known as Florida’s largest free outdoor blues festival.

• In 1997 the festival was voted as “Best Festival in Northeast Florida” by Folio Weekly Magazine’s annual poll.

Past performers at the festival have included many famous musicians such as; Larry McCray, Phillip Walker, Tinsely Ellis, Saffire “The Uppity Blues Women,” Maurice John Vaughn, Earl King, Mitch Woods And His Rocket 88’s, Susan Tedeschi, North Mississippi Allstars, Tab Benoit, Little Jimmy King, Henry Gray and the Cats, Grammy Award winner Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, Ruby Wilson, Charlie Musselwhite, Rod Piazza & the Mighty Flyers, Robert Jr. Lockwood, R. L. Burnside, Smoky Wilson, Coco Montoya, Smokin’ Joe Kubek and B’nois King.

This year the festival will take place on April 3-5 at Seawalk Plaza, Jacksonville Beach, Florida

First Wednesday Artwalk on April 1, 2009 – Jacksonville, Florida

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Come to downtown Jacksonville for a fun-filled April Fool’s Day Art Walk. This event takes place on the first Wednesday of the month. Headquarters for the art walk is 100 North Laura Street in downtown where you can pick up your map.

This is a self guided art walk. (You can also click here to download the pdf map directly.)

Special for this week:

Participate in Paint Downtown. There is a streetscape improvement project at the corner of Laura and Adams Street. The Downtown Vision and AIGA are providing paint and canvas. Let the artist in you come out and have fun. There will even be live music at the street corner!

Main Library has a Big Read event. The big read is The Big Snowy Day so the library has been transformed into the Yukon. You can go rock climbing, pan for gold and supposedly even play in real snow…

And after 9 p.m the Art Walk afterparty kicks off at The Ivy Ultra Bar. Just turn in your flyer at the door for a free complimentary drink (if over 21 years of age).

For more information visit www.downtownjacksonville.org