LELAND – Nothing screams spring in the Mississippi Delta quite like the Blues playing and crawfish boiling.
And, this weekend, the annual Leland Crawfish Festival – the longest running festival of its kind – returns for its 31st installment.
The event is slated for 11 a.m to 7 p.m. Saturday on the block of Third and Main streets and will feature “world famous crawfish & barbecue” by Ryan Moore and the Cicero’s crew.
Also in store for this year’s festival is an exciting lineup of live musical entertainment which will feature Libby Rae Watson, Raymond Longoria. Fred Moyse, John Horton Band and The Krackerjacks.
For admission to the festival, only “two staple food items” for Leland’s Food Pantry are required.
The Leland Crawfish Festival is one of the fundraising initiatives for the Highway 61 Blues Museum.
Festival chairperson Billy Johnson highlighted the contribution and inspiration of two beloved cajun cooks, Gerald Frey and Red Abshire.
“They were instrumental in spreading a lot of those good recipes to people in the Delta,” he said.
Preceding the festival from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday at the Wildlife Heritage Museum will be a reception celebrating a “Night at Leland’s Museums” – a free and fun event where folks can see “Leland come alive with unique offerings.”
Food and drinks will be served during the event.
A press release announcing the event stated, “Delta towns consider themselves fortunate if they have one museum, maybe two. But Leland proudly boasts four, including the Jim Henson Delta Boyhood Exhibit on South Deer Creek Drive East at Highway 82, the Highway 61 Blues Museum, the Mississippi Wildlife
Heritage Museum and Outdoor Hall of Fame, and the Our Town & Beyond Exhibit of Leland
history, all on Broad Street.”
For folks who have never toured any of the museums or possibly missed an opportunity to visit them, all four will be open from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday.
“Bluesman Pat Thomas will be playing at the Blues Museum, and Billy Johnson’s award-winning “Gone But Not Forgotten” photo exhibit will be on display there as well,” the press release announced. “Our Town will be celebrating its one-year anniversary with newly-added items and the Henson Exhibit will be hopping with young Muppet fans.”
