Pet de Kat Krewe - Worldwide Festivalists, established 1992
The Pet de Kat Krewe (PDKK or PDK) is a loosely disorganized group of music fans who seek out great festivals, support live music and have been dubbed a professional audience. Founded in 1992 by South Florida music fanatics who would bump into each other at live music events around the country, local parties began and grew rapidly. Before long a krewe was formed and Jazz Fest parties hosted.
The krewe is made up of Worldwide Festivalists who travel the globe for music festivals.
PDKK Community Values
- Diversity - The promotion of demographic variety, cultural growth, and education through live music.
- Environmental Integrity - That we may promote a whole and harmonious environment.
- Quality - No schwag is the standard.
The Pet de Kat Krewe is made up of music fanatics who gather at concerts and music festivals as well as in New Orleans for Mardi Gras and Jazz Fest. Kats have gathered informally at local events from the UAE to Tokyo, Japan to Baffen Island, Canada, North Miami to Bridgeport
Discovered by thousands during the 1993 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, the krewe was dubbed "Worldwide Festivalists" and drew the attention of hundreds.
The PDK may be at a music club, may be on the rail for the Neville Brothers and then again maybe not. We dance on our own schedule. If the beat of the drum is in synch with the step of a dance, it's either a coincidence or a stumble.
The Purple Board
The cyber kat fever began online in the early to mid 1990s on the Jazz Fest purple board, named this for the page background being a dark purple color. Our web traffic frequently crashed the Jazz Fest servers which eventually got an upgrade.. Kats are still hanging out on the latest incarnation of the Jazz Fest board, and can also be spotted on the PDKK Facebook group.
It was difficult to keep the krewe as a casual disorganized group. As word got out and there were more questions about the PDK, our creative minds came up with a story about the krewe that included a fictional town called Dekattrois, a Creole cat and a Creole Cat Festival. Read more on the Legend of the Creole Cat page.
It's all in the brochure. Yes, while sitting in a field during a set break we came up with a brochure the Creole Cat Festival, including a history that dates back to 1879 when the Creole Cat first appeared.
In 2000 Joe, better known as Big Chief Pony Dancer, and excellent at shameless, self-promotion, arranged to go live on WWOZ-FM during Jazz Fest. Steve, being the polar opposite of Joe, refused to go on-air preferring to keep the krewe out of the spotlight. "It gives the krewe too much attention." Steve preferred to keep it a mystery, "If you know, you know" and when asked about the krewe, he told a different story every time.
The Daze Between
For almost a decade the krewe expand exponentionally. We hosted an annual crawfish boil in Audubon Park,The Daze Between parties featuring Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Wild Magnolias, Iko-Iko, The Baboons, The Radiators, Terrance Simien, Chubby Carrier, All That to name a few.
In 2002, the Pet de Kat Krewe was invited to appear on the Folk Heritage Stage as an official part of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. A Jazz Fest Folk Lore panel put together by the NOJ&HF comprised Beatle Bob, PDKK's Big Chief Pony Dancer and Marisol, Economy Hall's "Second Line" Eddie, and Jack the "Tutu Man" who leads the Watermelon Sacrifice at the Fais Do Do stage. As big of an honor as it isto be invited to join the panel discussion and be an official part of Jazz Fest, Steve declined, saying "keep the krewe out of the spotlight."
If interested you can read about the origins of the krewe on the origin page.
Gatherings of the Krewe
Joining the krewe
You may already be a Kat. The PDK is a professional audience incorporating a loosely disorganized group of music lovers who's credo is simple:
- Seek Out Festivals
- Support Live Music
- Have Fun, but not at someone else's expense
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