One big thing: Giant Omelette Celebration
When? 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Sunday
Where: Downtown Abbeville
Cost: Free
What’s the big deal? If you’ve never been to the Giant Omelette Celebration, you must have egg on your face. (Sorry.) The annual festival starts at 9 a.m. Saturday and Sunday in downtown Abbeville, and it celebrates the omelette, a symbol of a rich worldwide fraternity called the Confrerie. Like most Louisiana festivals, this event features local music, bites and arts and crafts. However, the main highlight is the preparation of the 5,000-egg omelette, which starts at 1 p.m. Sunday with the procession of chefs and eggs. The omelette is then prepared around 1:30 p.m., then guests get served a free plate with a slice of French bread. This year’s omelette will feature 5,034 eggs, an additional egg for each year the festival has run.
Get all the information, including a look at the full schedule here.
What all goes into a 5,000-egg omelette? For the giant omelette, 5,034 eggs will be cracked. That’s 4,984 more than Paul Newman ate in Cool Hand Luke. Additional ingredients include 75 bell peppers, 4 gallons onion tops, 2 gallons parsley, 1 ½ gallons cooking oil, 6 ½ gallons milk, 52 pounds of butter, 3 boxes of salt, 2 boxes of black pepper, 15 pounds of crawfish tails, and Tabasco for taste. The eggs are first cracked then poured into 5-gallon buckets where the salt, pepper, milk and Tabasco is added and blended. The skillet (which is really, really big) is then prepared with oil and butter. Onions and bell pepper are added and sautéed, followed by crawfish, then the eggs. The omelette is stirred gently to the beat of Cajun music, and right before it’s completed, parsley and onion tops are added.
Also coming up
WEDNESDAY: Pop band Rareluth hosts an ‘80s Night Halloween Ball on Wednesday at Artmosphere, 902 Johnston St. Doors open at 10 p.m. Show starts at 10:30 p.m. $5. In addition to cool tunes, there’s a costume contest with prizes. Bring a mattress and go as Brass Bed. Give candy to everyone and say, “I’m in Givers!” The possibilities are endless for the costume contest! Get more information here.
THURSDAY: Get info on the fall ballot, name the mayor-president’s cryptocurrency, eat, drink and support the news outlet that has hired me at Straw Poll at 6 p.m. Thursday at The Jefferson Street Pub, 500 Jefferson St. $10 in advance, $5 for Current Plus members (a.k.a. power-ballers), and $15 at the door. $1 per straw for polling. Tickets here. More info here.
FRIDAY: Downtown Alive! hosts a 35-year extravaganza on Friday at Parc International. The anniversary celebration is one of the biggest free concerts in the series’ history and includes musicians such as Wayne Toups, TK Hulin, Chubby Carrier, Sonny Landreth and many more. It’s like The Polyphonic Spree, but with Cajun musicians. (If you get that joke, you’re really hip.) The party starts at 5 p.m. The music starts at 6 p.m. Free. Get more information here.
FRIDAY: Actress/comedienne Rosalee Mayeaux performs with Terrance Washington at 8 p.m. Friday at Club 337 inside the Doubletree Hilton Hotel, 1521 W. Pinhook Road. $5 in advance, $10 at the door. Get tickets and more information here.
FRIDAY: Surf-rockers Daikaiju attack The Freetown Boom Boom Room on Friday. Doors open at 9 p.m. The bill also includes The Shake Backs, Arn Mait’n, and Ginger and the Bee. $8, $5 if you wear a hat. Get more information.
FRIDAY-SUNDAY: Sarah Mikayla Brown and Lian Cheramie return for the new stage show “Cajun Face 2: The Tanties.” Performances start at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 2 p.m. Sunday at Acadiana Center for the Arts, 101 W. Vermilion St. $15. Get tickets and more information here.
FRIDAY-SUNDAY: Performances of Allyson Currin’s play “Church of the Open Mind” continue this weekend at Cite des Arts, 109 Vine St. Performances start at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 2 p.m. Sunday. $18. Get tickets and more information here.
SATURDAY: Dogs are fun. Dogs are cool. If you don’t like dogs, well, I don’t want anything to do with you! (Boom!) But if you dig dogs, here’s good news: Acadiana Animal Aid hosts its 20th annual Bark in the Park from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at Girard Park, 500 Girard Park Drive. Get more information here.
SATURDAY: Kristen Becker and Jay Bakker bring their “Loosen the Bible Belt” comedy tour to Lafayette this weekend. The variety show starts at 8 p.m. Saturday at The Wurst Biergarten, 537 Jefferson St. $10 in advance, $15 at the door. Get tickets and more information here.