By Chrissy Carter
Contributing Writer

LUTCHER – The 23rd annual Festival of the Bonfires took place last weekend and provided the River Parishes with plenty of good food, music, thrilling rides and much more. The much-anticipated festival is well-known for its historic lighting of the bonfires, which took place Saturday night on the levee.

Beautifully decorated Christmas trees of all shapes and sizes greeted festival goers as they entered the grounds. Hungry locals crowded the festival grounds for Friday night’s Gumbo Cook-off, Potato Salad Showdown and Bread Pudding Bakeoff. After taste testing each gumbo, locals had the opportunity to cast their votes for their favorite rendition of the classic Cajun dish.

“There were more than 60 gumbo entrees this year. We had a fabulous turn out, and all of them were delicious,” said Festival of the Bonfires committee member Renita Zerinque.

Marc Holder, Aden Holder and Jerry Diez took home top honors and were named “Best Gumbo of the Festival” for their tasty seafood gumbo. Avis White placed first overall in the Potato Salad Showdown, and Donnie Zimmer came up on top and placed first for his sweet bread pudding. Besides the gumbo, other Cajun specialties were served up at each booth such as jambalaya and boudin balls.

“This is my second year cooking for the festival,” said Babe Lear. “We loved cooking for everyone so much last year that we couldn’t miss it this year.”

A variety of talented bands performed at this weekend’s festivities, including “Times on Tunes,” “The Topcats,” “Party at Joe’s,” “Patrick Slyvest and Friends,” “90 West,”  “Bag of Donuts” and “Kenny Cornett and Killin Time.” The Bonfire Festival’s very own Teen Queen of the Bonfires Katy Roussel also took the stage to serenade the crowd.

Local schools and dance companies of the River Parishes captivated festival goers with their performances throughout the weekend. The Lutcher High School “Periquette” dance team was considered a crowd favorite after their exciting performance on Sunday afternoon.

Children of all ages had the opportunity to enjoy a variety of carnival rides and games. Miss Festival of the Bonfires Myrionne Joseph welcomed the crowd with a big smile and even gave a few lucky people a chance to try on her crown.

“This has always been a childhood dream of mine, and it is such an honor to represent my community and this festival,” said Joseph.

In order to get some Christmas shopping completed, the festival provided many different items like jewelry, Saints gear and toys to be purchased. Pam Whitney Porter was one of the many vendors at the festival.

“I graduated in 1969 from Lutcher High School and then moved to Katy, Texas. I’ve always been a huge fan of the Festival of the Bonfires, and it’s my first year back,” said Porter.  

For more information and how to take part in next year’s Festival of the Bonfires, visit www.festivalofthebonfires.org.