Post Eagle Newspaper

Tuesday

Nov 12, 2024

67°F, clear sky
New Jersey

Time Now

12:00:00

Accordion Festival, August 17-18 At Cotati

The 23rd annual Cotati Accordion Festival was held in the town park the weekend of August 17. At one end of the park was a stage where musical groups rotated every 30-45 minutes. At the other end of the park was a dance floor and tent where dance music was provided by Jim Gilman, the Steve Balich Band, and the Wild Catahoulas (zydeco) in the evening. Nearby at the Friar Tuck’s Pub dancers enjoyed Cajun/Zydeco music. The perimeter of the park was surfeit of food and merchants of musical stuff. We alternated between dancing and catching the musical groups on stage. I particularly enjoyed the group Simka who doled out klezmer music and more – look at www.cotatifest.com for information on all the groups and next year’s lineup. The format of the festival is the same each year.

DonH9-4forweb On Saturday evening, we joined the Balichs at their house in Sebastopol for their annual party, drinking their booze and eating Don Agresti’s fixins. Don spit roasted a hog from his hog farm and prepared fresh fruit, vegetables, and pasta. A dance floor was set up, covered with a tent and surrounded with ample covered seating – it usually gets cold in Sebastopol in the evening as the fog drapes over the hills but not this evening. Steve Balich Jr., the Gruber Family Band, and the Internationals pumped out great music until 1am. What a treat! Thanks again to Steve, Sr. and Jenny for a great party – and Steve, Jr. for all of his hard work to make this event happen.

In photo on right: The Steve Balich Band and his roadies

On Sunday we headed home to catch up with the grandkids before school starts. So we missed the Gruber Family Band who played at the Sonoma Moose Sunday evening. Drat! But we’ll catch these guys soon.