DAPHNE — First came the Zydeco Music Festival, now there’s the new Daphne Community Day — complete with the 1st Annual Flounder Parade.

“Actually we see the Community Day — and the Flounder Parade — as a way to build on Zydeco, to open it up to more people in the community and draw them in to the festival,” said Robin Smith, sales assistant with the Daphne Civic Center.

While the Zydeco festival will get under way Friday, with the first band beginning to play at 6:45 p.m., the newest additions will be happen on Saturday, Smith said.

That’s when Community Day and Flounder Parade will take place, she said.

The Flounder Parade will begin at 10 a.m. on Main Street at Daphne Elementary South and will end at the Recreation Center parking lot.

Community Day will officially kick off at about 10:45 a.m., Smith said.

At that time, bands will be playing outside the Civic Center and dance lessons will be provided — all free of charge, she said.

“We realize that it can be expensive for a family of four or five to go to a concert, so we wanted to do what we could to introduce them to this kind of unique music without cost being a factor,” Smith said.

Zydeco music is “a hodgepodge combination of jazz, blues and even some country thrown in,” she said.

“But it’s the mixture that makes it so distinct and fun,” Smith said.

Cost for attending the Zydeco festival is $15 per day. Children, ages 12 and under, are admitted free of charge, she said.

Zydeco bands included in this year’s lineup are:

Curley Taylor and Zydeco Trouble; Geno Delafose and the French Rockin Boogie; Lil 9 Year Old Guyland Leday; Same Ol’ 2 Step; Chris Ardoin and NuStep; Thomas “Big Hat” Fields and his Foot Stompin’ Zydeco Band; Leon Chavis, Cedryl Ballou and the Zydeco Trendsetters; and Brian Jack and the Zydeco Gamblers.

A low-country crawfish boil — featuring crawfish, sausage, potatoes and corn — will be available for sale, Smith said.

Last year’s Zydeco festival drew an estimated 2,000 to 3,500, Smith said.

“But from the number of calls we’ve been receiving — from as far away as Canada, California and New York — we really think that number may be doubled this year,” she said.

“It seems that word about the Zydeco festival is really getting around and it is catching on in a big way,” Smith said.

Plans also call for crowning a Zydeco festival king and queen Friday night. Any adult interested in this competition must be in costume to be considered.

Kathy Ebbitt, Flounder Parade organizer, said that 25 groups are signed up to participate.

“They range from Cub Scouts and Shriners to several Mardi Gras groups. We’ll also have the Dixie Minor League baseball organization,” she said.

“Folks are really turning out for this and it should be a lot of fun,” Ebbitt said.

Parade participants are planning to dress like “all kinds of sea life, including flounders, oysters and lots of alligators,” she said.

Spectators are an important part of any parade and Ebbitt is hoping lots of folks will want to be along the parade route.

“If you can’t be in the parade, at least come and watch. I think you’ll smile at what you’re going to see,” she said.

Mayor Fred Small has been encouraging local folks and organizations to get behind the new Community Day and Flounder Parade.

“Our goal is to make these annual events too,” Small said.

“Because we are the Jubilee City, that’s all the more reason we want to see folks have fun with the Flounder Parade,” he said.

“We envision children and families dressed to represent critters from the bay or something about Daphne,” Small wrote in a letter to Mardi Gras organizations.

“The parade should be similar to a ‘do da day’ parade, wacky and fun.”