Swamp Thing feasts on crawfish

Take a stroll down Bourbon Street, enjoy the smells of Cajun cooking, groove to the sounds of Zydeco, and enjoy a burlesque show filled with beautiful dancing women without ever leaving Austin.

The Louisiana Swamp Thing and Crawfish Festival is a Cajun-themed event bringing the best of Louisiana's culture, food, music, and fun to Austin.

On April 9th, the festival was held at the corner of 4th and Guadalupe, but the sounds of Zydeco, Funk, Brass and Blues could be heard for blocks. The festival featured on-stage bands such as Big Sam's Funky Nation, Beausoleil Avec Michael Doucet, and Sunpie Barnes, and the Louisiana Sunspots.

Off-stage acts wowed the crowds as well, including Acadêmicos da Ópera, a drum line with dancers performing precision routines. Afterwards, 10 contestants circled a table with two pans of crawfish in front of them as they raced to see who could eat the most in one minute. It was a disgusting sight but fun to watch as everyone cheered them on. The festival really got started when the Jigglewatts Burlesque came on stage. Three lovely ladies performed a very eccentric, yet seductive, "PG-13" show. They showed off their flashy outfits or lack thereof, danced sexily, and drove the crowd wild.

The main attraction, of course, was the food prepared by Louisiana's and Texas's finest seafood chefs, who made delicious entrees, such as alligator on a stick, boudin, Cajun turkey legs, and of course, crawfish. Every person who came and supported the festival was given a free bowl of crawfish that drew many guests back for seconds, thirds, and, in some cases, fourths.

The crawfish line wrapped around the lot, but to take your mind off the wait, there were booths that held clothing, henna tattoos, hats, and a whole lot of other knick-knacks for people to enjoy. "Man, I hope the crawfish isn't gone when we get there," could be heard up and down the line. Fortunately, the Louisiana Swamp Thing and Crawfish Festival had 5,000 pounds of crawfish, just enough to feed all the hungry mouths that came swarming in.