Boogie on the Avenue

The usual for these types of events to celebrate!
Crowded with lot’s of local food vendors with mostly bad food serving crowds of people walking around listening to music and eating! Nothing special about it… Nothing new !

Came here for two years now since we live right down the street. When I first came last year, I was expecting a total Cajun/​New Orleans atmosphere, which didn’t manifest itself. This year, more of the same. It was definitely really crowded this year, with the crowd getting bigger as the day wears on. Seems like everyone really just comes to hang out with their friends and drink (which is a great thing). The lines for the food was pretty hectic. I mean, I totally expect lines, but the area for food is so tight, the lines really had no where to go except on. They should really just have the food booths on one side of the street so lines and extend out and people can walk through on the opposite side of the street,

My girlfriend told me about this event and I love festivals especially the foods! When we arrived at the festival, it was very simple. It was basically about 4 blocks of merchants selling clothes, food, antique, and etc. The first thing I wanted to do was to EAT EAT EAT! We found a bbq stand where they sell cajun sausages which was enormous and delicious! Then we hopped onto another stand where they sell alligator on a stick. First time trying alligator which was exciting! It tasted like chicken in my opinion yum! Afterwards, I was hoping someone serves cajun corn on a stick, but nope… disappointed. However, the festival itself was enjoyable and I have to say you will probably be there for no more than an hour and ½.

A friend and I were looking to Boogie… wow, I feel like an old soul using that phrase. Okay, not really; we were more just looking for some nice weekend entertainment. I happened across Boogie On the Bayou online. Since, we’re using cliché «oldie» phrases, here is the 411.
Goings On:
1. Lots of beer. I was actually surprised how much beer was being consumed. In fact, if we measured it out, I think people would be shocked by the quantity. So #1, if you are a beer drinker, you will have fun.
2. Lots of people. For a fair that was merely one street, besides the side streets with foods, there was mass quantities of people — as in weave in and out of crowds to walk amounts. I was actually surprised at the mass quantity. Also, not only were people covering the streets for the fair, but there were huge lines for restaurants. Every single one was packed.
3. That awkward moment where you see the Cardiff Lounge looking like it should be 11 PM with bouncers, girls in heels, and all that and wonder if you accidentally got transported to Alaska since you thought it was only 3:30 and the place is packed…
4. The vendors there were meh. There were some very cool art vendors, a few mustard and balsamic guys, and a pretty good number of food and drink vendors.
5. There was also a slight Cajun feel to the festival, reflected in some of the food.
6. The Campbell Band (assumption based on these small suburban towns all having a local band LOL) was there playing surprisingly current music, adorably dressed in matching flower print shirts. Awww Campbell, you’re so cute.
Parking was shockingly easy! Since Downtown Campbell is so close to the Pruneyard and other shopping centers, there were tons of spots in the parking garage. But, police were giving tickets… to motorcycles not parked correctly in the t spots (or so the nice looking cop said as I asked him what the motorcycle did that was a violation). Yes, this is a true story. 20somethings bonding with cops everywhere over parking violations.
If you want to eat and drink, this is a great festival for you! If you want to shop for art, I would skip it. If you want to just walk around and enjoy downtown, your walk will be substantially slowed weaving in and out of crowds — all depends on what your seeking from a festival.

This is for the food at the new Orleans cookery. After walking around a bit we decided to stop here a this booth and try there jambalaya, me and me girl wanted to slit a bowl before dinner, it was more like ghetto jambalaya it had hot dog in it the Nasty greasy hot dogs it was gross, I have never had jambalaya with hotdog in it. For the 9 dollars for a bowl they could at least put real sausage in it. Make sure u take a good look at food before you buy it might be bootleg.

Fun event! Lots of foods and drinks! Bring your friends, family, co-​workers, really anybody! Here’s a video I made of that day

Great event. I thought the signage could’ve been a bit better. We got to the first sign and saw that there was food to one side, stage to the other and shopping in the other. We thought that was it. We ended up going to a restaurant and then realized later that there was more food down the street. But it was fun stage hopping and hanging out all day. It was nice that there were some chairs out too. Not nearly enough but more than most offer. We’ll be back next year with chair in tow to sit and take in some decent music.

Nice event, my first time going this year.
I loved that PayPal was there and you were able to get a free drink ticket by using their app. Awesome!
Like lots of similar festivals, tickets were needed to buy beer and wine which wasn’t a problem because we got there early enough that there were no lines.
The food was divided between southern/​creole and regular fair type food. I had an asian wrap which was delicious and big enough to justify $ 10. The vendors were interesting, lots of cool crafts and home made treats for sale.
I didn’t have any logistical issues with the event, there was no extra parking but there is never extra parking in Campbell. There were also lots of porta potties available.

This is a very cool festival. Parking can get a bit hectic for South Bay standards, but not impossible if you’re willing to walk a few blocks. There are multiple live music stages, food and alcohol booths, and vendors stands.
When I come to this festival I also like to take the opportunity to see how much downtown Campbell has evolved. This year I noticed multiple cool new business, but noticed that some of my favorites like Cardiff are still here.

We went to boogie on the bayou 2014 in Campbell today. I’m a big fan of cajun/​zydeo music, and always attend this music event on the weekend before memorial day in downtown Campbell. Featured artist Tom Rigney has moved on to bigger things, and is no longer on the schedule.
We always go by 280, take the Winchester exit, and drive down Campbell ave, and park in the covered parking garage on the right of Campbell, three blocks from the fair. We get there at 11am and there are a few spots left in the covered area, and the rooftop completely empty of cars.
Today’s feature is Courtableu, although I would have liked to have seen Sauce Picante Saturday, but had a conflict.
We get there early and immediately get front seats at one of a dozen umbrella tables in front of the stage. There is a shortage of chairs, and people who arrive late have to stand next to the walls. No shade except for the umbrella tables, and it gets very hot.
People start dancing in front of the stage to the Cajun music, including one lady who must have been in her 80s, just like in southwest Louisiana.
The group under the tent has a lead female and Asian male singer, and both of them crack out American accented French songs in Cajun, Zydeco, Blues, Country and a few instrumental waltzes. The lady is a member of the creole belles group.
My wife comes back and brings me some of the $ 8 Jambalaya with a few sliced hot sausage bits but no shrimp, and a $ 10 crab cake sandwich. A bit overpriced, but the the parking and show are free. At 1:45pm the show ends, and a blues singer is about to come on. We scamper out, and check out the Dixie land band scheduled for one of the other stages, but the group has been replaced by a rock group. A lot of last minute replacements, and the crowds are immense by this time, toe to toe, with the usual tents of attractions seen at the Art and Wine festivals.
We get out of there, with cars circling around the parking lot looking for open spots in the garage. A bit tough getting to highway 17 from Campbell Ave, as we have to circle the Pruneyard, and back to get home. Next time I will park on Hamilton Ave.

Tomorrow this Cajun festival, Boogie on the Bayou will be held in downtown Campbell.

Come early if you want to find a parking spot! I’ve been going to this festival almost every year since I’ve been living in Campbell. Most of the food is good, but a little on the pricey side. So is the booze of course. They don’t just serve Cajun food here. They also serve lots of BBQ’d meats and corn, Italian food, American food, and lots of other stuff.
I highly recommend the gumbo or craw fish étouffée. It’s very good. I can’t recall which one it is, but it’s green and has shrimp in it. The portion is a bit small, but it’s good and spicy! This is a very popular event, so it does get very crowded. Also, there are no places to sit at, literally, so if you have to sit down to eat, bring your own chairs. Admission is free.

Enjoyed the festivities. Great music! It’s cool they handed out free beads and nobody needed to show any body parts :) Having been to Nawlins, the food here was disappointing and pricey. How could they ruin the beignets by making them packed flat. Beans and rice was bland. There are other ways to cook gator meat than deep-​fry the crap out of it. I’ll come again next time just for the fun and music.

The good: I love community events
the bad: prices
The ugly: drunk people, people everywhere, sweaty people
I came here because I wanted to experience the Boogie on the Bayou. I was expecting a little more cajun though. The food was really the only cajun thing going on and I would have liked some more flavor all in all.
I left after about 45 minutes. Perhaps if I had been drinking I would have enjoyed myself more. Maybe next time.

Gator on a stick!
I like these street fairs that pop up all over the Bay area because you realize its summer.
They are all the same where there is displays of art and booths of alcohol in which you can walk around with.
This one seemed like a less classy affair as people’s intents were to get smashed. Some of the other ones like in Sunnyvale or Mountain View you see people sipping wine and actually looking at the art.
I got there early to meet my friend at 11am and there is free public parking. It took us about 20 minutes to see all there was to offer to we headed to the food area.
Since its Louisiana themed there was lots of cajun food– jambalaya, gumbo, crawfish, etc.
There was a fro-​yo booth for 2 bucks that my friend got and seemed legit tho. They were passing out recyclable bags too!
I HAD to try the Gator on a stick. For 9 bucks and something that seems EXACTLY like fried chicken. wasn’t too impressed but at least I get to say I ate gator.
What was pretty tasty was shrimps in artichoke tho that was legit.
Then we went to Aquis and had some swirls. Then some drunky-​ness ensued. The end.

I was expecting to have a fun relaxing day at the farmers market, but ended up with boogie on the bayou.
Free parking, but it took 20 minutes and a LOT of chasing and stalking walkers to find a free space.
Food tents, but for a small crab cake and jambalaya and out $ 20, we were unsatisfied and still hungry.
There werent many places to sit and eat, most people found a place on the ground and sidewalk to dine. Although there was a truck selling lemonade and tea for $ 6 – 7 with free refills all day. I also noticed that all the restaurants had people lined up and were full of drinkers. Funny to think that people go to a festival to eat at a restaurant.
The only bayou boogie I could see, was the band playing music you would find in New Orleans.
Tis the season for festivals and fairs. They will give you headaches, everything will be jacked up in price, and it will be crowded. If your not into festivals, then this one won’t be any different from any other. But if you love festivals, eat your expensive heart out.

I really enjoyed the entertainment at this street fair. The music was awesome, and we found plenty of places to sit (we came Sunday morning through early afternoon). The only place we ate from was the Louisianna Territory truck but mainly because the other places looked like your standard festival fare but like they switched out their signs for more cajun sounding items (except the alligator meat… I assume they really know what they’re doing). Louisianna Territory didn’t disappoint, and they had an awesome raspberry lemonade that was nice and refreshing in the warm weather.
I was definitely underwhelmed by the booths — nothing really caught my eye. It was pretty much standard art and wine festival items. But again, I was mainly there for the music. Loved the SB Jazz Society and the Creole Belles. Both were a lot of fun and really got you in the ‘boogie’ mood.
Parking isn’t so bad if you know where to go. The library is good for Sunday parking, and there’s also a back lot right behind it of mainly city vehicles. We’ve parked there for many a parade/​festival and never had an issue. I think we’d try to make it out to this again next year.

Just like any other festivals, there were lots of arts for sale here. There were tons of people wandering around of course. However, compared to the Oktoberfest that was also done in the same spot, Boogie on the Bayou was not as crowded. I preferred the not-​too-​crowded scene here and friendlier people. In Oktoberfest, people were just drunk. LOL
Anyhow, it was my first Boogie on the Bayou attendance, but not my first taste of Cajun food. Some call it the Louisiana delicacy; some call it food from the South. I just call it Cajun. I love Jambalaya, its spiciness and everything about it was exotic for me. I also tried crab cakes. It would’ve been better for me if it was crispier. The kids tried the beignets. I was no fan of desserts. It was just like homemade doughnuts for me. I was highly disappointed to have not tried the alligator meat on the stick. I failed to find its booth (was busy babysitting and watching live music). The best deal of the day was the Lemonade with free refills. I think we had three or four refills for the whole day (times two glasses). Healthier than soda or alcohol!
What I enjoyed the most was the California Repercussions band playing. Very entertaining! It was matched with a great weather too. What a great festival! I wish to go back next time so I can try the alligator meat on the stick. Teehee.

So is this what you call cajun??? This piece of crap looked EXACTLY like oktoberfest with an «alligator» stand! I can’t believe how disappointed I was in this crap!
So this was supposed to be reminiscent of New Orleans? How are you gonna do that with no crawfish??? The one stand I saw that had anything to do with crawfish… had a crawfish étouffée with NO CRAWFISH! WTF is that? They replaced the crawfish with shrimp and had the balls to call it a crawfish etoufee! The alligator was deep fried so much that it ended up tasting like a deep fried piece of pork! For $ 10 a skewer… it better taste like alligator!
Besides the food tasting like crap… the beers cost $ 5 for a cup that look like it could be no bigger than 8oz! Parking is a pain (but that was already expected for a festival in campbell). Lets just say I won’t be back next year!
Oh and another thing! It looks like all the white people left the bay area and called Campbell HOME! I’ve never seen so many white people in one spot since I left Texas!

I love going to festivals on a sunny day.
In order to start the day right for festivals, you need to:
1. Get cash
2. come early for parking.
Boogie on the Bayou sounded like fun — Walking around and snacking and drinking beer — its a good time. Oh yea, and alligator. As in, have some alligator on a stick.
We came early to ensure a parking spot and prepared with cash. There weren’t THAT many food stations but we tried some alligator. It was exactly like fried chicken — suspisious. I want to see the alligator head for proof of authenticity!
The gumbo was a.o.k. nothing mind blowing. The jamalaya was underwhelming — bland. I think zatarans boxed jambalaya would have had more taste.
The crabcake jambalaya tasted like it was made with immitation crab.
for $ 8-​$ 10 per plate, I expect better food. Maybe I just didn’t get the right food — I was full off of the crappy food that I didn’t get a chance to try the sausages or anything else that looked really good.
The lemonaide! Tried 3 different kinds and they all sucked. One lemonaide tasted like they used equal instead of sugar. The 2^nd was way too sugary and the 3^rd had a plastic taste.
Maybe it will be better next year.

I was looking for the farmer’s market and stumbled on a hot mess. As Kitty and Colleen have mentioned, remind me again… what was so «on the bayou» about it? Only highlight I can remember was watching the vendor selling hats with a banner saying no pictures. It was quite amusing, and makes me think twice about buying a hat that has been on a gazillion sweaty heads.
On Sunday, the hooters girls were out promoting their new location as well as handing out stickers. Although it was 10AM in the morning, people were getting their drink on and sporting that awful fashion trend of shorts, sneakers, and white socks up their knees. Yikes.
Luckily for me, the farmer’s market was located on a near street, and all was right with the world.