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As thunderstorms cleared, food and tune lovers trickled in for the 15th annual Plaquemines Parish Seafood Festival on Sunday (May 19) in Belle Chasse. Attendees came prepared, wearing rain gear and rubber boots. But the rain cleared by mid-afternoon, and no mud was observed, with lush grass or stable gravel covering the competition grounds off F. Edward Hebert Boulevard. A large concrete pad in front of the overall performance level furnished lots of room for dry dancing to the live song. “Junior & Sumtin Sneaky has a pretty precise following,” said Ernie Kientz, one of several volunteer organizers about the closing band. “We’ll begin to get an excellent crowd for them.”
“We’ve been rained out on Friday for the past couple of years,” Kientz said. “But this year, Friday and Saturday were precise. We had over 1,000 attend Friday and over 1,500 Saturday.” The three-day festival featured nonstop live music from famous local bands, 13 food providers (each with at least one seafood item), 13 craft booths with local artisans, carnival rides and video games, and the Seafood Queen Pageant.
Annabelle Picou was selected to be the Plaquemines Parish Seafood Festival queen for 2019 at a competition on Saturday at Belle Chasse High School. Contestants, all parish citizens between 17 and 23 years old, were judged on interviews, looks, personality, and beauty. Picou will spend the year performing as an ambassador for the seafood industry and nearby fishers at festivals and pageants for the kingdom’s duration.
“Last 12 months’ queen traveled over 5,000 miles,” Kientz stated. Besides celebrating and promoting the seafood industry, the yearly event benefits many local organizations. “One hundred percent of earnings visit nearby charities – Boy Scouts, PAWS, Rotary, and Belle Chasse High School band and the wrestling group,” Kientz stated.
Major stage sponsors included Gibby Andry Law, Venture LNG Global, AmSpec, NAS JRB Credit Union, NewWave Communications, Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board, Chevron, and C&C Marine, with Phillips66 Alliance Refinery as the imparting sponsor.
Could Bayou Boogaloo pass next year? Organizer says perhaps
After 14 years at the banks of Bayou St. John at Orleans Avenue, Bayou Boogaloo ought to relocate in 2020, said founder Jared Zeller. “We will explore all alternatives in the future to ensure the economic health of our occasion and company,” he stated. “It would be a shame,” Zeller said, “because we adore that venue.”
Zeller believes the Bayou Boogaloo brand is strong enough to survive a relocation. He and his group of workers are considering shifting to Deutsches Haus, the German cultural center on Bayou St. John close to Esplanade Avenue. They are also looking at three spots alongside the lakefront and different festival websites inside the town, including Armstrong Park, Lafayette Square, and Woldenberg Park.
In addition, Zeller said, he’d bear in mind taking the yearly event outside of New Orleans to Jefferson Parish, which he believes is probably more hospitable to the fest than New Orleans has these days. The pageant, which passed off (on May 17-19), charged admission for the first time in 2019. Zeller said the $10-in step with-day or $ 20-in-line with-weekend charge became vital because the city steeply increased its rate to apply the public space alongside Bayou St. John. Zeller stated that the town charged about $35,000 these 12 months, plus a $5,000 damage deposit.
