Come hungry to Llano Crawfish Open for good food and music
JENNIFER FIERRO • PICAYUNE STAFF
LLANO — To illustrate just how popular the Llano Crawfish Open is, consider this: Organizers ordered 17,500 pounds of the mudbugs last year, and it still wasn’t enough.
“They ran out,” said Briley Mitchell, director of the Llano Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center. “And that doesn’t include the barbecue, sausage wraps and other food vendors,” he said. “They had 5,000 pounds of sausage. I don’t know how much barbecue they had.”
The food, live performers, golf tournament, 5K walk/run, art show, team roping and other activities bring 10,000 people to the city for the annual festival, which turns 26 this year.
The main event with food, live music and vendors is April 17-18 at Robinson City Park, 2249 RR 152. Admission is free until 7 p.m. April 17 and $5 after. On April 18, admission is $10 until 7 p.m. and then $15 after.
Concert headliners are Dale Watson at 9:30 p.m. April 17 and Kevin Fowler at 10 p.m. April 18. Other musical performers are Cher La-Bas Texas Cajun Band, Back Row Sinners, the J.J. Garrett Band and Amber Digby on April 17 and Cadillac Gypsies, Dr. Zog, Darrell Goldman and Dub Miller on April 18.
Mitchell said he’s looking forward to hearing Digby.
“I love her singing,” he said. “And she’s pretty to look at, too.”
An auction is April 16-18 at Robinson City Park. Team roping will be at the John L. Kuykendall Events Center, 2200 RR 152, beginning April 16 at 3:30 p.m. It continues April 17-19. Mitchell said organizers are bracing for about 450 ropers.
The 5K walk/run begins at Robinson City Park at 8:30 a.m. April 18. Cost is $25 per athlete. Proceeds benefit the Llano Self Advocate Group.
The Charity Crawfish Golf Open is 7:30 a.m. April 17 and 12:30 p.m. April 18 at the Llano River Golf Club, 301 W. Main St. Cost to play in the four-player scramble is $70 per golfer.
The Motorcycle Fun Run begins 10 a.m. April 18 at the Llano County Community Center, 2249 RR 152. Registration is the evening of April 17 at the community center, and the cost is $10 for the run only or $15 for the run and a meal ticket. Participants follow a map to different stops for a playing card. Once they return, they show their hand, and the best hand wins.
Go to llanocrawfishopen.com for a full schedule and more information.
jfierro@thepicayune.com