An embarrassment of riches in spring food festivals

From anise cookies to rabbit gumbo to championship crawfish étouffée, the range of foods found at Louisiana’s spring festivals—this month alone—seems endless. For starters, there’s this weekend’s Sicilian Heritage Festival in Independence, where you’ll find stuffed artichokes, muffulettas and the same sumptuous Italian cookies that drape St. Joseph altars. Next weekend, Amite holds its annual Oyster Festival; the same weekend, you can head to St. Bernard Parish for the Los Isleńos Festival celebrated by descendants of Canary Islanders who immigrated to Louisiana in the 18th century. Also on March 16 are the Cassidy Park Wild Game and BBQ Cook-off in Bogalusa, and the Jumbo Gumbo Cook-off in Thibodaux.

In time for Easter, the Iowa Rabbit Festival takes place March 23 and 24, with a roster of rabbit-centric dishes from gumbo to sauce piquante. Chalmette holds its annual Louisiana Crawfish Festival and Redfish Series March 21-24, not to be confused with the Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival coming later in early May. The weekend of March 23, check out the Hammond Smokin’ Blues and BBQ Challenge, the America’s Hometown Eats FoodFest in New Orleans, and the World Championship Crawfish Étouffée Cook-off in Eunice. And, thanks to one of the largest concentrations of Laotians in the U.S., Louisiana also hosts a Laotian New Year celebration to be held March 28-31 in Broussard with a parade, live music and South Asian food finds.—Maggie Heyn Richardson