Louisiana native Michael Arnone started New Jersey’s Crawfish Fest in 1989 because he and some LSU buddies were homesick for Delta culture, especially crawfish and music. That first year Crawfish Fest had 70 paying customers, but by year three, Buckwheat Zydeco headlined to 3,000 people, and Arnone needed a bigger site. Since then, the festival has expanded once again, to their current 130-acre location at the Sussex County Fairgrounds.

Marcia Ball, Dr. John, Tab Benoit, Allan Toussaint, the Radiators, Trombone Shorty and a host of others have played this celebration of all that is Louisiana, and this 30th Anniversary Bash will equal the best, with Aaron Neville and the Marcus King Band heading up an all-star roster that includes the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Terrance Simian and Flow Tribe, among many others.

None of this success happens by accident. We asked Arnone when he started looking for talent for the following year’s festival and he said, “I start Sunday night at the show,” and goes all year long until the event is booked. On that general topic, when asked what advice he’d give anyone who considered becoming a festival promoter, Arnone told us, “Make sure you’re single.”

Two decisions factor greatly in Crawfish Fest’s success: the professionalism and the prices. First, everyone is paid; unlike many events, this festival uses no volunteers, workers who, though well-intentioned, are amateurs.  Most of the key people have been with Arnone for over 20 years—a few for nearly 30 years—and all are college-educated; as a result, the festival consistently gets excellent reviews for customer service.

Second, the festival keeps on-site purchases in line with Louisiana pricing: nothing is over $12, meaning crawfish ($12), jambalaya ($9), red beans & rice with pork sausage ($8) or grilled alligator sausage ($6) are affordable, and the beer to wash them down runs $4-$6.

He even shared on of his favorite recipes with us, Easy Pralines for Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday, March 5):

1. 2 cups of sugar, 1 cup evaporated milk
2. 2 cups pecans, 1 Tablespoon butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla

Cook sugar and milk till softball stage over medium heat, remove from heat and add butter vanilla and pecans. Beat by hand until stiff, and drop on wax paper.

Great music, great food, terrific service and reasonable prices add up to a memorable experience. Michael Arnone’s straighforward philosophy: “We want you to come back.”