A Smokin’ Good Time

Published 2:27 pm Wednesday, October 18, 2023

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The 48th Annual St. John Parish Andouille Festival presented by Marathon Petroleum will feature music, rides, crafts and of course great food. Thousands of people merged upon the festival grounds last year for a fun-filled weekend and everyone is invited to join us again this year!  

The festival is scheduled for October 20th, 21st, and 22nd, at the Thomas F. Daley Memorial Park, located at 2900 Hwy. 51, LaPlace.  A new ride vendor, bands, arts and crafts, Gospel tent, along with a Second Line Parade will be featured. Kid’s tents will be open throughout the weekend featuring a Barbie party, Canvas Art Painting with Mrs. Karin, Petite Princess Tea Party, and performances from local groups. 

Vendors will offer a variety of dishes with andouille including gumbo, jambalaya, pasta, eggrolls and tacos. Other delicious food such as cracklings, fried and boiled seafood, crawfish bisque, fried ribs, desserts, snoballs and more will also be available. 

On Sunday, October 22nd, the annual Andouille Run, a 5-mile run, and 2-mile run/walk will begin at 8:30 a.m. on festival grounds. Admission to the festival is $3 for ages 3 and up. The festival is open from 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. on Friday, 11:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. on Saturday and 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Sunday.

The official poster of the 48th annual Andouille Festival features Andouille sausages second-lining through a rainstorm of red beans and rice. It’s hand-painted by local business owner Dana Bardell Wallace, and depicts all of the great things that the Andouille Festival represents including good times, a celebration of community, having fun with food and music and resiliency. It will be on sale at the General Store throughout festival weekend for $30.00.  

The General Store will also have Andouille-festival merchandise including tumblers, sunglasses, cups, keychains, cutting boards, koozies, hats, tote bags and more for sale. 

We recently celebrated 50 years of the Andouille Pageant and are excited to have our new royalty, Miss Andouille Queen DoMonique Warren and Teen Andouille Queen Brooklyn Boe reign over festival weekend.

Each year we strive to make the Andouille Festival bigger and better! Join us this weekend October 20th through October 22nd for a Smokin’ Good Time! For more information, please visit www.andouillefestival.com

Jaclyn Hotard

St. John the Baptist Parish President