Sons Will Rise at Cajun Fest : Offspring of Two Zydeco Greats Will Be Featured at Annual Gathering in Long Beach

To mark its 10th anniversary in Southern California, the annual Cajun-Zydeco Festival will offer a greatest-hits-like package of top acts in both fields, highlighted by return appearances by C.J. Chenier & the Red Hot Louisiana Band, Steve Riley & the Mamou Playboys, Geno Delafose & French Rockin’ Boogie and the Savoy-Doucet Cajun Band.

The festival will take place June 1 and 2, once again at the Rainbow Lagoon downtown.

This will be the first time the fest has brought together Chenier and Delafose, the sons of two of zydeco’s most renowned performers (Clifton Chenier and John Delafose, respectively. Both younger musicians took over their fathers’ bands after the fathers died). The Savoy-Doucet Cajun Band is a trio with accordionist Marc Savoy; his wife, singer and musicologist Ann Savoy; and Beausoleil lead singer and fiddler Michael Doucet.

“It’s always great to bring C.J. anywhere,” said fest coproducer Chuck Wentworth, on the phone from his office in Rhode Island. “He’s playing the best form of zydeco out there at this point. And from the Cajun side, with Marc and Ann together with Michael Doucet, you can’t get any better than that.”

Whereas the musical mix at last year’s fest was broadened by the presence of blues-R&B; pianist and singer Marcia Ball, this year’s lineup returns to meat-and-potatoes Cajun-zydeco fare.

Chenier, Delafose and the Savoy-Doucet band will play both days. Riley will play June 1; Sheryl Cormier & Cajun Sounds will play June 2. California-based JT & the Zydeco Zippers will open the June 1 bill; Benny & the Swamp Gators will open on June 2. Individual performance times will be announced.

In conjunction with the festival, a Cajun dance will be held, under separate admission, on the night of June 1 in the adjacent Long Beach Convention Center, with Cormier’s band.

Along with the music, the festival will feature food booths with Louisiana and other Southern regional fare, free dance lessons, and workshops in different aspects of the music and culture of southwest Louisiana.

Workshops were precluded last year by construction in the vicinity, but Wentworth said they will take place this year one way or another. “We’re definitely working on it to get things in place so we can have power for the workshop performers. If not, we’ll go ahead without power.”

Advance tickets will cost $15.50 per day, 50 cents more than last year. At the gate, they will be $20, the same as last year. Also unchanged will be the $15 discount price for seniors and students, the $5 tickets for kids 11 to 16 and free admission for kids 10 and under. Some proceeds will benefit Comprehensive Child Care, a nonprofit child development agency in Long Beach. Information: (310) 427-3713.