LAPLACE, LA – The 43rd Annual Andouille Festival was an immense success with more than 23,000 attendees this past weekend, event organizers said. This year’s events included The Dang Douille Eating Contest, The Andouille Gumbo Cook-Off and the Andouille Run. The festival took place Friday, October 14, to Sunday, October 16, 2016, 2016, at Thomas F. Daley Memorial Park, 2900 Highway 51 in Laplace, LA.
"This year's Andouille Festival was a huge success and was a testament to months of hard work and planning by a great parish team,” said Natalie Robottom, St. John the Baptist Parish President. “Each year we strive to improve and grow the festival and this year was record-setting for attendance and activities. The Gumbo Cook-off and the addition of a General Store were hugely successful. They provided festival goers with options for actively participating and gathering mementos of a great weekend."
The festival kicked off on Friday evening with $1 Night, a fundraiser for St. John Ministry of Care. Adult entry, rides and select concessions were $1 with the donation of a non-perishable food item. The weekend included live music, good times and great food cooked with the festival’s namesake and delectable sausage, andouille.
On Saturday, the festival goers attended the Andouille Gumbo Cook-Off, the Dang Douille Eating Competition, the First-Ever Car & Bike Show and more. Larry Zeno, an independent entrant, won first place in the Andouille Gumbo Cook-Off. Sirena Julien of Sirena’s Home Cooking took second place and Chris Lear of Norco Fire Department took third place. The Dang Douille Eating Competition first place winner, Chris Cancienne, took home the prize for the third time this year. Second and third place winners were Travis Perrilloux and Shaman Bell respectively.
Sunday, the closing day of the festival, started with the Andouille Run, followed by the Andouille Jazz Brunch. Bernard Artis and Ashley Trosclair finished first in the five-mile Andouille Run. Ashton Cage and Kaylee Milioto finished first in the two-mile run.
Typically, thousands of people gather at the parish tradition to participate in the many events the festival has to offer. This year, the festival achieved record attendance. The music lineup featured Amanda Shaw & The Cute Guys, Gina Brown & Anutha Level, Image, Dwayne Dopsie & the Zydeco Hellraisers, Karma, New Birth Brass Band and Category 6.
The Andouille Festival presented by Marathon Petroleum Company, LP is sponsored by EuroChem, Denka Performance Elastomer, Entergy, Gulf South Pipeline, Reserve Telecommunications, Pin Oak Terminals, AAB Electrical Industries, Inc., ACT Technologies, Digital Engineering, Humana, Metro Service Group, Nalco Champion Ochsner Health System and Riverlands Insurance Services, Inc.
