NEW ORLEANS – Put on your boogie shoes and start walking to New Orleans.
 
The Sun Belt Conference will host its annual Fais-DoDo (FAY-DOE-DOE) Sunday night as it kicks off 2018 Football Media Day.  The party, held at the Grand Oaks Mansion at Mardi Gras World, is the most unique media day event ever - a truly one-of-a-kind event complete with zydeco music, Louisiana seafood and Cajun dancing.
 
“Last year, we wanted to do something special for Sun Belt Media Day and introduced our Fais-DoDo party.  It was a huge success and we knew right away that we had to make it a yearly tradition,” said Sun Belt Commissioner Karl Benson.  “It provides another memorable New Orleans experience for our coaches, student-athletes, members of the media and friends of the Sun Belt who attend Media Day – while also capturing the rich culture and history of Louisiana.”
 
While the modern-day definition of Fais-DoDo is a “Louisiana country dance party,” its origins come from a French nursery rhyme meant to lull children to sleep.
 
Folklore tells us the nursery rhyme was often sung to children before their parents would escape out for a night of dancing, so how the term Fais-DoDo became synonymous with a Louisiana country dance party remains somewhat of a mystery to us.
 
The Sun Belt Fais-DoDo and Media Day will not be putting you to sleep, but rather, waking you up in preparation for the 2018 football season. The Sun Belt Conference will welcome members of the media, coaches, student-athletes, administrators and special guests to partake in music and dancing. And of course - no one who comes to New Orleans leaves hungry. Awaiting guests will be crab, shrimp, crawfish, muffulettas, jambalaya, jalapeno cornbread, oysters and a whole roasted suckling pig, topped off with beignets and bread pudding with a whiskey sauce.  It is safe to say no other conference is providing that kind of fare.
 
Sunday night will be a continuation of an annual Sun Belt tradition that will be the talk of college football media days for years to come.   
 
Sun Belt Media Day continues the next day with Commissioner Karl Benson scheduled to give his State of the Conference remarks at 8:30 a.m. CT.