Music Doesn’t Soothe Rival Promoters

Warfare proved bruising for two Cajun and Zydeco music festivals that went head to head in the Los Angeles area over the Memorial Day weekend, but the rival promoters say further battles may be on the horizon.

The promoters, Roy Hassett and Franklin Zawacki, were partners in 1987 when they brought Los Angeles its first Cajun-Zydeco festival, at the John Anson Ford Theatre in Hollywood. But a falling out over finances led to a split this year.

Hassett said he was “tickled to death” that his recent festival at the Ford Theatre made a small profit from a total two-day attendance of 1,100. But that figure was far below the previous year’s, when 1,500 people had packed the Ford on the second day alone. Zawacki said that his festival at the Olympic Velodrome in Carson drew a paid crowd of about 3,700 people over two days but that he lost money because he needed to sell at least 4,000 tickets to break even. Still, Zawacki said, the event “really widened the base” for future Cajun festivals.

Zawacki, who operates his Southland promotions from Orange County, said he will stage another Cajun festival at the Velodrome next Memorial Day weekend. Hassett, who runs the Ford Theatre on a lease from its owner, Los Angeles County, said he plans to do likewise at his own venue. Both promoters claim to have been the driving force behind the original festival that they put on together; neither is willing to give up the Memorial Day weekend in the interest of cooling the competition for a limited audience of Cajun and Zydeco fans.