Cotati Accordion Festival

My first time at the festival turned out to be a beautiful relaxing day in the park with the strains of any number of different types of accordion music filling the air– tango, polka, zydeco and classical. Amateurs and professionals alike giving their all to an appreciative crowd. Proof positive that the accordion is not just some corny instrument that your grandparents listened to. Will be back next year.

If you love a well played squeeze box seek no further. There are zydeco folks, cajon players, The Polish contingent and Italiano players as well. Truly something for everybody here. They also serve bbq kielbasa lathered with dark mustard on a hoagie. Infectious at first, you’ll reach your fill in a half hour. Wander across the street and check out fenders, gibson’s and deals on amps at the music store. But beware, they sell fenders made in Mexico in here. Cavet emptor.

Every review posted before this one (Oct 2014) is 5 star. Okay, it ain’t a conspiracy. This ostensibly lame theme (are you kiddin’, accordion music?) is actually one of the most unique experiences you’ll have In a lifetime.
I’ve attended 6. The theme remains consistent. Home town proud, laid back, festival ambience without being oppressive. Spending the day under the oak trees with the small crowd is totally enjoyable.
Ok, but you’re a music snob, right? Yeah & so am I. I’ll better you one on that. I’m a jazz guitarist who took my 1^st lesson in July 1960. I grew up in NYC, was taught by several famous Italian old school jazz guitarists. I’ve played a LOT in public. I’ve been recorded many times as a sideman. So my credentials are cool. The music at this festival is NOT lame. I’ve heard & seen accordianists here who are world class musicians. Mind boggling technic with outstanding musicality.
So? Come. Bring some of yer friends. Get here early to grab some close to the stage seats. Patronize the food & beer booths. When some of the main acts hit the stage, prepare to be amazed!

Weekend before last, I spent $ 250 on the Outsidelands festival and managed to have an okay time despite the odds. It was crowded to the point of ridiculousness. Wine was nine dollars a glass. People stepped on my toes and didn’t apologize.
Last weekend, in contrast, I went to the Accordion Festival for the first time ever. (Kids, don’t be like me. I’d imagined every accordion-​player-​wanna-​be wandering the streets of Cotati, forming pick-​up bands and taking on the scourge of small town blight with a one-​two oompah beat. I left my accordion in the car when I learned that only the performers bring their instruments. And cars, even parked in shade, are dangerously melty to accordions.)
IT BLEW MY MIND. For $ 17, I got all-​day access to as many accordions as I’d ever wanted to see (which, for the record, is a shit-​load). There was festival food (Spiro’s Gyros! My favorite! Spiro always calls me «lovely» and makes me blush). There was plenty of lawn space for me and my friends to loll around on. Five dollar glasses of wine, and free tastes! There was music, on three stages, all the time. Polkacide killed it, as they do, bringing the crowds to their feet in a polka-​fied frenzy.
But the very, very, very best part of the whole thing? The part that made me feel better about being a member of the human race again? There’s this tent, see, a big one, and under the tent was a band. Five older men played the accordion along with a piano player and a trumpet player. They played Lawrence Welk-​type music under the tent, and what was magical was the dancing. EVERYONE danced. As a friend put it, it felt like we were crashing someone else’s wedding. Fathers danced with daughters, friends with friends. I saw a very old man dancing with his ancient mother (seriously, when they spun off the dance floor, he sat her in her wheelchair at the side of the tent). A young, tall dark-​haired dark-​eyed boy waltzed with every female member of his extended family and looked as if he’d been born to do it. A sixty-​plus year old couple danced and swayed, crooning the words to each other, and at the end, he dipped and kissed her.
A young blond cowboy asked me to dance, and I did, and only THEN did I remember that I’ve never been able to two-​step, but he was all smiles anyway. Everyone was grinning, as a matter of fact. Turns out it’s impossible to dance at the Cotati Accordion Festival without smiling.
You can keep your Outsidelands. Next year I’m going to Cotati.

This is where you’ll find me August 18 & 19, 2012! An amazing lineup of musicians with a wide variety of music styles from all around the world… well, at least all around California! Home grown, cozy and fun! Food vendors, wine tent, accordions and gear of all types, ummmm … did I mention the beer? And the craft artists? The polka tent! OMG — the Zyedeco venue… there’s just barrels of fun, all packed into a few blocks of picturesque Cotati, CA.

Though there are a smattering of accordion events in different parts of the USA, The Cotati Accordion Festival is easily the most unique. Started by Cajun player Jim Boggio in 1990 the festival now is an amazing 2 day international event. The stress is on FUN and most of the acts (including the loopy «Lady of Spain-​A-​Ring» where doves are released during the iconic tune) are wild, colorful and diverse with Gypsy, Eastern European, Blues, Jazz, Circus, Rock and of course Polka music playing non-​stop. And if you think you’d actually like to buy an accordion, there’s plenty of new and used models in booths that you’d have to drive far and wide to see anywhere else.

You can’t imagine how much fun this thing is, you have to go to find out.

Love, Love, Love this festival!
Tejano, Polka, Zydeco… any music that could incoporate the accordian will be played at this event. I love the atmosphere and Cotati is just the cutest little place to host such a festival!

This here squeezebox fest offers up the most fun you’ll have with your pants on!
Lively bands from ’round the world play everything from polka to conjunto on the main stage
Usually held the last weekend in August at La Plaza Park in beautiful downtown Cotati, with a dance tent, vendors selling vintage and new button boxes, food & drink and a drop in jam tent.
Brave Combo is the headliner on Sunday for ’07, festival dates are August 25 & 26.
Be there or be square!