Saturday May 16 marks the grand debut of the new monthly Louisiana Saturday Night series of Dance Parties, with the Lil' Orphans Cajun Express, 7-10 pm, at Boccelli's on the Canal, in beautiful downtown Bellows Falls, VT.

Lil Orphans have been presenting their special blend of traditional & original Cajun music in a driving contemporary dance hall style for over 10 years, reflecting the full variety of Cajun music today, and incorporating New Orleans R&B, blues, zydeco, jazz, and a whole panoply of pan- African and Caribbean music. For May 16, the Cajun Express band will feature New Orleans native Pete Simoneaux on fiddle & vocals, Linda Simoneaux on the diatonic button accordian & vocals, Dan Kasnitz on electric bass, Jonathan Reinhardt on electric guitar, Julian Gerstin on percussion, & Jeremy Holch on drums.


Future events in Boccelli's Louisiana Saturday Night Series include the official debut of the New Orleans Brass Band Project on Saturday June 27, and the return of Planet Zydeco on Saturday July 25. These events will run from around 7 pm to 10 pm. Dance instruction will be offered at the beginning of all events. Admission will be $10. (There is no cover to eat at Boccelli's Restaurant.) If you have not already sampled the food at Sharon and Ingrid's fabulous kitchen, it's about high time you went!

Boccelli's on the Canal is located at 46 Canal Street, across from the Amtrak Station and Visitors Center in downtown Bellows Falls. For more info on Boccelli's, call 802-460-1190, or go to www.boccellisonthecanal.com. For info on this event, call Lil Orphans at 603-835-6051.