Festival International in Lafitte...

 Festival International in Lafitte, La. is the biggest international music and arts festival in the U.S.A. I have wanted to go for years but until retirement I was always working that weekend or if I was off the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival was drawing me but this year we made it down for two days of great fun. 

The festival is five days starting on a Wednesday evening around 5PM and ending each night by about 10pm. That's good, not too late and not too early. We hit two weekdays, Thursday and Friday and the crowds were very manageable. By Friday night it looked like the weekend would be busy so those two weekdays were just right for old folks that have lost their hang chops for the mosh pit in front of a Flogging Molly show or lack the endurance to stay standing in a crushing crowd while trying to touch the hem of Jack Black's garment at a Tenacious D concert. It's OK to bring a lawn chair.

This is a free festival and it's set up all around downtown Lafitte. We did contribute to the fundraising by purchasing one of the VIP perks which was a wrist band that granted entrance to air conditioned bathroom trailers which were nice, had no waiting and were as clean as any public restroom in a major chair restaurant that has been used by an American. 

I'll be writing more about the bands later but here's a few photos. 

It order of appearance so you can get your playlist together are the Flying Balalakia Brothers, Lakou Mizik, Zackery Richard, Robert Finley, Sonny Landreth, Natu Camera and Delgres. 

I give this festival 5 stars. They have been doing it a long time and it is well run and laid back.