A “fais-do-do” is an energetic “Cajun hoedown,” a community event full of music, good folks and great food, that takes place on a Saturday evening at a public dancehall and may very well go all night. The term “fais do do” means “go to sleep,” and, according to legend — though the origin of the term may be in dispute — refers to the way Cajun mothers would try to shush the young babies they brought with them to the event, handing them to a grandmother or an older relative to put them to sleep in a nearby room so they could dance. At this Cajun dance party a Cajun band plays “chanky-chank” music, featuring a rollicking accordion, a vibrant fiddle and a triangle — a “ting-a-ling.”
And, flying in the face of tradition, during our fais do-do we’re going to keep our kids awake so they can have fun too.
