Watermelon Festival marks return of summer’s favorite fruit

Between the “sugartown” watermelons from Beauregard Parish and the well-known Washington Parish sweets to the east, south Louisiana is awash in summer’s favorite melon. The annual Beauregard Watermelon Festival takes place June 27-30 in DeRidder with events that range from a watermelon carving contest to seed spitting and speed eating to a diaper crawl.

That’s right, for the first time, the festival will find out who among them is the fastest rugrat. Diaper-clad cuties will hit the mat at 9 a.m. sharp on Saturday June 29, and barring distractions, will crawl their way to the finish line. No enticements of food or drink, please. Prizes will be awarded to fastest crawler, cutest crawler and best watermelon decorated diaper. Other events this year include standard Louisiana festival fare including a carnival, 5K, pageant, food, live music and a Cajun comic.

Whether you attend the festival or not, watermelon will be front and center on local menus for the next several weeks and the possibilities for its use are endless.

Serves one.
1/3 glass watermelon puree, chilled
1/3 glass chardonnay, chilled
1/3 glass sparkling water, chilled
1 watermelon ball

Combine ingredients in a wine glass and serve immediately.