Baton Rouge Soul Food Festival: When, what to know about tickets, cooking contest

BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — Enjoy a weekend of classic soul food dishes and live music at the free Baton Rouge Soul Food Festival this spring.

The festival will be open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday, May 18, and Sunday, May 19 at the East Baton Rouge Parish Main Library located at 7711 Goodwood Blvd.

A spokesperson confirmed that the festival will happen rain or shine, saying time slots would move back an hour if needed.

Admission to the festival is free. Tickets are on sale online for $25 Soul Foodie tickets and $100 VIP tickets.

Festivities will start on Thursday, May 16 with a pre-party at Henry Turner’s Listening Room from 7 p.m. to midnight. Admission to the pre-party is $30. There will be a soul food buffet and no-host bar, according to a news release.

Live music lineup

The Soul Food Festival will have different genres of live music including gospel and contemporary Christian music, blues, soul, R&B, spoken word, motivational rap, country and smooth jazz.

Some musicians, entertainers on the lineup:

SmokeHouse Porter and Miss Mamie.
Henry Turner Jr. & Flavor.
The Listening Room All-Stars.
Phoenix Rouge Dance Troupe.
Vince Hutchinson.
Original Heavy Storm Band.
Double Trouble Zydeco.
Krazy D.
Katrina.
Joe Tex II.
Contemporary Worship from Atlanta.
Lisa Harris’ Tina Turner Tribute from Los Angeles.

Cooking contest

There will be several categories in the judged Soul Food Cooking Contest including meats, vegetable and side dishes, breads and desserts, appetizers and soups and beverages and ices.

First, second and third-place prizes will be given in each category. Judging criteria consist of presentation, taste, and the story or history behind each dish, according to a news release.

“Ten entrants in each category will be pre-selected by the Soul Food screening committee. Upon acceptance the entry fee is $20, $30 for walk-ups, if slots are available. Contestants need to bring enough food for six people the day of their judging,” said Soul Food Festival organizers in a news release.

Cooking contest applications will be accepted until Friday, May 10.

Meet the winner of the Pioneer Award

Festival organizers said this year’s Pioneer Award winner is New Ethel’s Snack Shack, a restaurant founded 69 years ago. Paulette Thomas took over operations in 2012.

Popular dishes on the menu are red beans and rice, smothered turkey neck with cornbread dressing, smothered pig tails with rice and gravy and Paulette’s lasagna. According to a news release, recipes for these dishes were passed down to Paulette from her mother.

The award will be presented at 4:50 p.m. Saturday, May 18.

The restaurant is located at 1553 Fairchild St. in Baton Rouge and is open from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday to Friday.