The Crawdad Festival

The Crawdad Festival at Cal Expo was such a fun experience. There was plenty of shaded seating & it was overly crowded. They had a wide variety of vendors with tons of great food choices. We also enjoyed the entertainment lineup. It’s nice to have the festival closer to home. We were at the Isleton location last year but didn’t care for that one. The space was too small in my opinion. People were shoulder to shoulder attempting to walk around. They also didn’t have as many food choices as Cal Expo. My family and I look forward to attending the Cal Expo Crawdad Festival next year !

Only one booth selling crawdads and the crawdads are stored in ice chests dry and not in broth. So the bodies of the crawdads are dry, no sucking out the flavor and juice because there is none and they don’t peel. 40.00 for a 2 lb. box. 27.00 to get in, 15.00 for parking, 18.00 beer. The lousiest crawdads and festival I have ever been to. That’s coming from a 2003 Crawdad eating champion in Isleton. Go there instead !

Shouting out LOUD to THE CRAWDAD FESTIVAL CAL EXPO!! What an amazing experience for Sacramento folks to have in our community! It was amazing from the Crawfish to the different authentic delicious foods from so many different vendors even the market place vendors were creative with their displays. ENTERTAINMENT 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 Is all that can be said for both days on all THREE stages there was music for all to enjoy and the kids zone was entertaining for the children complete with water activities to keep them cool! This event had all of the amenities needed for a super fun time for the whole family of all ages! Can’t wait to see the entertainment lineup for next year? And Thanks “THE CRAWDAD FESTIVAL CAL EXPO”! YALL DID THAT!🔥🔥🌹🌹❤️❤️

This years Crawdad festival at Cal Expo was truly an amazing experience!! I’m so happy they moved it from Isleton to the heart of Sacramento. The family that produced the event really incorporated, all the great things of living in northern California starting with the food, the music, and the culture. Me, my family and friends attended both days, I can’t even express how good the food options were they had something for everybody. I really like how they created zones for kids, car cultures, vendors, artist, and the parking was easy. The music lineups were amazing, my only wish this that this was a (3) three day event. I cannot wait till next year’s event, we really look forward to this experience again. Lets Go Crawdads Festival 2025!!!

Overall the festival was good. Many options, the food at Afroeatz was great! The main crawdad vendor was…okay. We got there right when it was opened. 2 lbs of crawdads for $50.00 included about 20-30 crawdads of different sizes, liberally sprinkled with Zatarains, 2 small corn cobs and a small potato cut in half. It was over cooked, a little mushy and couldn’t pull a tail whole. Got way more meat at the crawdad fries vendor for $18.00..

We truly enjoyed The Crawdad Fest. We went on Sunday for Father’s Day, the vibe was great and everyone was chilled and enjoyed the live bands and the DJ in the other side. My only suggestion for next year is to have shade over the dancing area. It was way too hot to be dancing in direct sunlight. Until, next time!😊

Crawdads are horrible!!!! Don't say I didn't warn you! (Support the other food vendors, just don't buy the crawdads. Lol) Soo, 1 lb for $30.00 and $50.00 for 2 Lbs. I should've just gone to boiling crab to get my crawdad cravings taken care of. The crawdads were OVERCOOKED (I am pretty sure I am not the only one who felt this way). I can't even get an entire tail meat without it disintegrating in the shell because it is too MUSHY, same w the corn and potatoes. The only plus side at cal expo are the seating area and thank goodness for the other vendors that participated. But other than that, I won't be coming back for another crawdad festival. Maybe go to the original crawdad festival at Isleton, Ca 6/20/24 Dear owner, Sir/Ma'am: this review is for the crawdad festival at CAL EXPO, and NOT for Iselton. The one star is mainly for the crawdads; the other 3 and below stars also apply for cal expo. Do you own both festival, not sure how you are responding to this post when the address for it is for the 1600 exposition blvd. I still stand 100% with what i said that The crawdads were MUSHY and overcooked and so were the potatoes and the corn. The festival has a responsibilty to provide good quality of food for the price that are being charged. Honestly, the $11.99 - lb bag of frozen crawfish meat from walmart is about 2 stars better than what was served. Yes, it was well seasoned, but customers were there To eat the crawdads not to sip the broth. This is not a slander but an honest review. I've never been to iselton but i will definitely go there next year to try their crawdads - maybe revisit the google review then so you can read what I will have to say about their crawdad boil.

Definitely will attend next year!! The music was amazing 🤩 all the different booths from fashion,jewelry,psychic,and other food/drink booths and many more brought such a variety to see. There was even a parade with a band and dancers!!!!! The crawdad souvenir booth had cute headbands,beads, and funny t-shirts. For the crawdad booth, I am speechless with how delicious the crawdads were. It was lip smacking good👍