Gerry Spanger’s 13th Annual King Cake Party
Saturday Noon to 4 PM, February 14, 2015
321 Baldwin Avenue
Breaux Bridge, LA
It’s probably a southern thing but southwest Louisiana house parties are as common as roadside gasoline stations that sell everything from fuel to boudain, sandwiches, wine, candy, and an entire aisle of chips, pretzels, popcorn and Fritos to wash down the 20 varieties of cold beer stacked in a case that lines one entire side of the store.
House parties vary in size. During Mardi Gras they multiply like the fishes and loaves in the bible story. Gerry Spanger’s annual King Cake party in tiny Breaux Bridge nine miles from Lafayette is certainly one of the most inclusive.
Gerry came down this way as a visitor years ago, got smitten by the dance culture and the people doing it. Southwest Louisiana has a tendency to raise its eyebrows and give visitors a “Come Hither” smile and before you know it, you’re booking a reservation to return. Gerry not only returned but also bought a house in Breaux Bridge. Backstory here...
One year he and his friends invited a bunch of dancers who’d been working up a sweat at the Saturday morning (yes, morning) dance at the nearby Café des Amis to come by for socializing. Pretty soon a bunch of them started dancing in the yard. One thing led to another. Gerry’s been hosting a huge King Cake party on Mardi Gras weekend for the past 13 years.
Oh, in a covered patio he and his pal Don Walker built expressly for dancing. Gerry hires one of the best bands in the land, Geno Delafose and His French Rockin’ Boogie, to play from noon to 4 PM. The man’s fearless. Advertises the dance on a popular web site. A couple hundred people show up toting food and camp chairs, pour themselves into that dance patio with a smooth concrete floor and carry on.
Some of them have come up the street from a morning’s dancing at the Café des Amis, some start here and finish the night on a dance floor in Lafayette or one of the surrounding towns. For some, Mardi Gras week is not complete unless they’ve met and mixed at Gerry’s famous King Cake party.
VIDEO1 The big picture
VIDEO2 Dancers in motion until the camera battery went poof.
VIDEO3 Dancers in motion again
VIDEO4 Zydeco dancing pair with big energy on the same wave length
VIDEO5 When Geno and his band put it into overdrive, so do the dancers
The "dance floor" was jammed from noon till 3 PM...after that it was only crowded.
Always time for photo opps...
Dick Brainard thanks host Gerry Spanger...and the dance goes on.
A guest "frottoir" player stands in with Geno Delafose and His French Rockin' Boogie; by 5 PM, Don Walker (brown t-shirt), Gerry's friend who led the first group over to the house years ago, and a small crew break camp. You'd never guess 200 people were packed into the yard a couple of hours ago.
Photos and videos by Paul A. Tamburello, Jr
Wow
looks like a blast. I wish I knEw how to lead Mishy like the fellow
led the woman.
Posted by: Chris Ives | February 22, 2015 at 10:33 PM
People from Colorado..England...California...Minnasota...New York...
We keep meeting year after year..at Gerry's...
On year he had Curley Taylor for the band.
Posted by: Inge | February 24, 2015 at 05:03 PM