This Saturday, August 19th is 'Cray-Day' in Michigan. A day set aside for Michigan to find out that crayfish are a good thing, not a bad thing.

The invasive Louisiana crawdaddy (or as we northerners call them 'crayfish') has popped up in two bodies of water in Michigan, a pond in Novi, and Sunset Lake near Vicksburg.

Officially know as Red Swamp crayfish, the critters, while delicious to eat, are verboten here in the Mitten State.

“Red swamp crayfish are a prohibited species in Michigan, which means it is unlawful to possess, introduce, import, sell or offer them for sale as a live organism, except in special circumstances, including providing specimens to the DNR for identification,” Nick Popoff, regulatory affairs manager for the DNR, said in a statement.

The crawdaddies are just generally disruptive to the local waterlife, what with their constantly blasting Cajun music, and their funny accents.

Now help is on the way, from their native Louisiana.

The fine folks at Lafayette Travel, in the heart of Cajun Country in Louisiana have heard of our plight and are on their way to help, hosting a Cray Day Festival Saturday in Vicksburg.

On July 19 the Michigan Department of Natural Resources released an advisory confirming the presence of the invasive red swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkii), also known as the Louisiana crayfish, in Sunset Lake in Vicksburg and a retention pond in Novi.

 

When the advisory hit social media people in the south took notice. While a lot of the comments from people in the south were jokingly aimed at capitalizing on the new found food source, we realized when it comes to invasive species it was no laughing matter.

 

That got us thinking over here at Lafayette Travel. How could we help our neighbors to the north with their invasive species problem, but have a little fun at the same time? Pretty simple really. Throw a pop-up festival that aims to educate Michiganders about the crustacean that proves to be a pest in the north and a cash crop in the south. So that’s what we did!

Cray-Day will not only educate those in attendance on crawfish, but there will be a cooking demo on how to cook a crawfish etouffee (now you have my full attention!), panel discussions, live music from a Cajun band and fun activities for the entire family.

You can see the entire schedule here at Lafayette Travel.

The Louisiana craw will take off for Michigan on Thursday morning and you can follow the entire trip here via the official Lafayette Travel Facebook Page.

More From Mix 95.7