More than 2,000 gallons of seafood and chicken-and-sausage gumbo will bubble in pots this weekend as the Gumbo Festival settles into its new home at the Westwego Farmers & Fisheries Market, carrying forward a tradition that traces back nearly 60 years to a small church fair. The festival runs Friday through Sunday, October 9-11, at 484 Sala Avenue in Westwego, with gates opening at 6 p.m. Friday, noon Saturday and noon Sunday.
A Market in a Seafood City
The City of Westwego describes the Farmers & Fisheries Market as a free community gathering place featuring locally grown produce, fresh seafood, prepared foods, arts and crafts, and regional music. For broader place-history context—not evidence about the festival’s origins—Visit Jefferson Parish says fishermen, shrimpers, oystermen and trappers made up a large portion of Westwego’s early residents.
The festival began as church fundraising fairs in 1967, when Monsignor J. Anthony Luminais, ordained in 1954 and later assistant pastor at Our Lady of Prompt Succor Church in Westwego, started fairs to benefit Holy Guardian Angels Catholic Church, according to wurthluxury.com. The fairs expanded after Luminais became pastor of Sacred Heart Chapel in Bridge City, with parishioners helping build them into a larger festival by 1973, according to New Orleans Historical. Volunteers contributed their time and talents, and the festival eventually grew large enough that then-Governor Edwin Edwards declared Bridge City “The Gumbo Capital of the World,” the archive says.
A Parish Built on Gumbo
Festival fundraising supported the parish’s growth, including property purchases and parish buildings. Construction of Holy Guardian Angels Church began in 1983, and the church was consecrated in March 1987, according to the New Orleans Historical archive. Elson Griffin crafted the sanctuary, altar, lectern, ambo and wooden crosses from Louisiana pecky cypress.
The parish chapter ended when the Archdiocese of New Orleans closed Holy Guardian Angels Church after a final Mass on June 30, 2024, and sold the former church property to Avondale Global Gateway, NOLA.com reports. The former Bridge City Elementary School was also torn down, and the Bridge City playground closed because of storm damage, the outlet reported. Those changes formed part of the backdrop to the festival’s move to Westwego.
Families Who Never Left
Festival work has passed through generations of families, with volunteers taking on booths, food, electrical work, entertainment, pageants and groundskeeping, NOLA.com reports. Elaine Boatwright served as the festival organization’s secretary for 50 years, and Jimmy Boatwright volunteered for more than 40 years, including cooking red beans. Nikole Larousse Hebert’s involvement began after she was crowned Miss Creole Gumbo in 1986.
Sabrina Palmisano described her devotion to her parish, God and church to NOLA.com. Volunteers continued planning through uncertainty, while keeping the Miss Creole Gumbo tradition alive, the outlet reported. The City of Westwego worked with the festival organization to hold last year’s event. Melissa Dugas summed up the relocation this way: “We are keeping the tradition going no matter where it's held.”
What's Cooking This Weekend
Beyond the gumbo pot itself, organizers describe the 2026 festival as offering carnival rides, game booths and craft booths, according to visitjeffersonparish.com. The Gumbo Cook-Off happens Sunday, October 11, open to restaurants, professional chefs, food trucks, culinary teams and other commercial food operations, with entries judged across chicken-and-sausage, seafood and creative categories, the tourism site notes. Live local entertainment spanning swamp pop, Latin and zydeco traditions fills out the schedule, according to the New Orleans Historical archive.
The music lineup includes Nola Rouge at 6:30 p.m. Friday and Revamped Band at 8:30 p.m. Friday. Saturday brings Imagination Movers at 12:30 p.m., Jak of Klubz at 2 p.m., Rhythm's Dance Company at 4:15 p.m., Nashville South at 4:45 p.m. and Rock Show Nola at 8 p.m. Sunday's bill features T Marie and Bayou Juju at 11:30 a.m., the Southern Charm Dance Team at 1:15 p.m., Tracy Anne Jolie and the Beasts of Bourbon at 2 p.m. and the Aaron Foret Band at 5 p.m.
Getting In and Getting Around
Admission costs $5 per person, with children under 36 inches tall admitted free, and parking is free to the public, according to visitjeffersonparish.com. Festivalgoers should leave pets at home — only documented service dogs are allowed — and outside food and drinks are prohibited, though concessions will be sold throughout festival hours, the site states. The festival has operated for nearly 60 years and is considered Jefferson Parish's oldest festival, now entering its second year at the Westwego Farmers & Fisheries Market after relocating from Bridge City.
