Crawfish Festival raises money for playground improvements fund -

While the torrential rains cancelled the first Tallahatchie Crawfish & Shrimp Festival at the Park Along the River last weekend, that didn’t stop organizers of the event or the hundred or so people who showed up at the scaled down event that was moved to The Basement, an events venue downtown.

Mark “Pop’s” Pipkin and John Kelly, the event’s organizers, reported selling around 250 pounds of crawfish and fifty BBQ plates at the event and were able to raise $300 for the Park Along the River Playground improvement fund. Inside The Basement, beverage sales and tip jars raised another $120 for the fund.

“Considering the rain and everything, we think the event was a big success,” says Kelly, “and we hope to throw some other boils down there before crawfish season ends.”

“It was a great time,” concurs Sean Johnson, owner of The Basement. “The music was fantastic and people seemed to really enjoy the atmosphere. We’re looking forward to opening more often in the future.”

The money raised by the event has been placed in a fund for the Park Along the River playground improvements.