Bayou-Inspired Music Draws Big Holiday Crowds

The flavor of Simi Valley was a little spicy, even a bit hot this weekend when thousands of people flocked to the annual Cajun Creole Festival for a big, easy kind of Sunday afternoon of swing and French Quarter fare.

Where Tapo Canyon Road meets Los Angeles Avenue in mid-city Simi Valley, a grassy city expanse became a slice of bayou for the two-day holiday bash hosted by Rotary Club of Simi Sunrise.

A canopied bandstand and dance floor was the hub of activity, where men, women and children bobbed and twisted to twangy zydeco tunes of Acadiana Cajun Band, one of five groups that took the stage on the party’s final day.

In the midst of the crowd, Agoura Hills residents Dixie and Tommy Lee Vaughan pranced about carrying a curvaceous fake leg mounted on a long pole. The limb wore a black fishnet stocking, a purple garter belt and a size 7 1/2 gold slipper.

“When you go to jazz festivals in New Orleans, everybody has a marker in the crowd to let the people they are with know where the group is,” said Tommy Lee Vaughan.

Behind several rows of colorful blankets where people sprawled while they tapped metal spoons, drank beer and savored bowls of shrimp gumbo and jambalaya, resident Lisa Cole sat enjoying the 75-degree weather.

“It’s really a fun family event,” Coe said as she helped her 17-month old daughter, Kaylee, take a sip of cold soda. Coe’s 11-year-old son, Bryan, proudly displayed his new bamboo whistle.

There were men in Panama hats waving peacock feathers, and little kids running around with $2 beach-ball-size balloons attached to large rubber bands. Vendors hawked parrot-themed wares, ceramic red peppers and hand-dipped incense.

Festival-goers ranged from infants to grandmothers and included peace officers in golf shirts and Bermuda shorts as well as a few long-bearded bikers breaking a sweat in black jeans and leather vests.

Nearly everyone had a few strands around their neck of the colorful plastic beads that are a Mardi Gras parade tradition.

In the kids’ area, just down from the Moonwalk ride, dozens of children lined up to use glue, colored cereal and small pasta tubes to create masks, headbands and necklaces. The group then walked in a small parade.

Event chairman Gerry Clodfelter said attendance appeared to be up about 10% from last year, when some 10,000 people showed up. Proceeds from this year’s party could top $80,000, which will benefit several local charities.