Third Coast Cuisine

Now steaming hard towards its second full decade, the Schaeffer Eye Center Crawfish Boil is a welcome tradition in the Iron City.  What started as an annual shindig thrown by LSU grads Aaron and Phyllis Beam has grown into Birmingham's unofficial start of Spring.  Eventually the Beam's party got so big they decided to charge admission and give the money to charity.  That first official Schaeffer Eye Center / Beam's Crawfish Boil raised $15,000.

From a small gathering of friends sharing good times and 50 pounds of mudbugs the festival has grown into a fund raiser that draws in the best musical acts (recent years have featured Snoop Dog, Fergie and Papa Roach to name a few), an 80 foot Ferris Wheel and a Rock Band contest.

The festival is located outside at The BJCC (Richard Arrington Jr. Drive between 22nd and 24th Streets). Three (3) entry gates can be found at Richard Arrington Jr. Blvd N & 24th St N, Richard Arrington Jr. Blvd N & 23rd St N and 11th Ave N & 24th St N.  The gates open today at 4PM with planned musical performances from Seether, Akon and Alice in Chains.  Saturday gates open at 2PM with performances from the Goo Goo Dolls, The B 52's and more.  The festival is also a cultural center for beer enthusiasts as they have a large Craft Beer selection.  Oh and don't forget about all that crawfish!