French Quarter Fest – Day 1

French Quarter Fest is my favorite festival of the year. In it’s 34th year, the 4-day free festival features local food booths and music on 23 stages throughout the Quarter. Thursday’s weather was beautiful, 72 and sunny with a breeze coming off the river. We arrived in time to see Cha Wa, a Mardi Gras Indian band in the tradition of The Wild Magnolias. They played many favorite “Indian” songs including Let’s Go Get ‘Em, Shoo Fly and  Indian Red. During the break, we filled up on a chicken plate from Mona’s and my favorite fest food – a Cochon de Lait Po-Boy from Walker’s Southern Style BBQ (AKA Love at First Bite).

French Quarter Fest – Thursday

French Quarter Fest is my favorite festival of the year. The 4-day free festival features local food booths and music on 23 stages throughout the Quarter. The weather was glorious, 77 and sunny with a breeze coming off the river. If the Thursday crowd was any indication of attendance, this year will be a record breaker. I’d be lying if I didn’t admit missing the days when many of the attendees were as  local as the festival itself. Seems the secret is out. I was no help – live Tweeting all day to share my wonderful time with the world.

Got Gumbo? 2016

United Way‘s Got Gumbo? is one of my favorite annual events. A tasty gathering of over a dozen competing restaurants, the event is hosted in the Royal Sonesta by General Manager Mr. Alfred Groos,  creator of Got Gumbo? Participants compete for Best Traditional Gumbo, Best Seafood Gumbo, Best Exotic Gumbo and Best Vegetarian Gumbo as well as the People’s Choice for Best Dessert, Best Float (decorated table display) and Best Gumbo. Multiple chefs compete in multiple categories – each offering their very best – it’s like going to “gumbo heaven” complete with fun table displays and charitable gumbo-lovers (United Way  receives the $25 ticket price as well as the bar).  

French Quarter Fest 2014 – Saturday

With the weekend in full swing, all of the over-20 stages and dozens more food booths opened throughout the Quarter for day 3 of French Quarter Fest. The first day, we parked ourselves in front of the Abita Stage and watched masters of their craft all day. Friday, we enjoyed all that again as well as watching well over 100 children take the stage throughout the day.  Saturday, we hit every corner of the Fest – from the Mint to the Aquarium and from Bourbon Street to the river.

Got Gumbo? 2014

Gumbo is the perfect metaphor for our city, our music and our culture – all of the ingredients work together without ever losing their individual flavors. This was my 4th United Way’s Got Gumbo? at the Royal Sonesta but the contest has been running for 14 years. I had a friend visiting from out of town who’d been here a week and hadn’t eaten anywhere outside of his hotel and national chains. He joined us and got to taste over 20 restaurants competing in 4 categories of gumbo: traditional, seafood, exotic and vegan. Way to make up for lost time!

French Quarter Fest Saturday

The French Quarter Fest is as much about local cuisine as it is about our amazing music with over 65 local vendors tempting tastebuds with everything from spicy seafood to sweet snowballs. Saturday, the  festival was also the proving ground for Rouses Crawfish Eating World Championship. There were several rounds of competition culminating with the 4th annual win for Sonya Thomas AKA “The Black Widow.” She managed to pack 2.2 pounds of crawfish into her 100 pound body in 10 minutes. Louisianan hunk Adrian Morgan came in second with 2 pounds. I finished one Pulled Pork Sandwich topped with Cole Slaw ($6) from The Joint while watching

Got Gumbo? 2013

This was my third trip to the Got Gumbo? event benefitting the United Way and it’s fast becoming one of my favorite annual evenings. This year, 17 chefs and restaurants provided up to 4 dishes each to compete in the categories of Best Traditional Gumbo, Best Seafood Gumbo and Best Exotic Gumbo as well as the People’s Choice for Best Dessert, Best Float (decorated table display) and Best Gumbo. Do the math and you see that it’s an evening of eating yourself silly surrounded by whimsical tables and charitable gumbo-lovers (United Way  receives the $25 ticket price as well as the bar). The event is held at the Royal Sonesta. You may recall that my last trip to the Sonesta involved dropping my hoop skirt and greasing a pole to kick off the final weekend of Mardi Gras.