The river parishes kicked off the holiday season with the 25th annual ‘Festival of the Bonfires’ in Lutcher!
The three day-long event featured a gumbo cook-off, live music, crafts, Santa’s Very Merry Forest and carnival rides for the kids.
WGNO personalities Anne Cutler and Dr. Rachel Reitan helped judge the gumbo competition.
Each night was highlighted by a single bonfire lighting.
On Christmas Eve, local families will light the rest of the bonfires lining the levee, lighting the way for Papa Noel as he delivers presents to area kids!
Poultry Gumbo
| 1st | TEAM Moose & Poochie Brett “Moose” Trosclair |
| 2nd | TEAM Foti Financial Casey Laiche & Walt Amato |
| 3rd | TEAM Z’s Tackle Joey Zimmer, Lane Zimmer & Mathew Hymel |
Seafood Gumbo
| 1st | TEAM LSR Rashad Albert, Wade Faucheux & Ryan Kliebert |
| 2nd | TEAM Noranda Cyle Tullier |
| 3rd | TEAM Marathon Stan Bourgeois |
Red Bean Gumbo
| 1st | TEAM Knights of Columbus Boolee Roussel, Garland Landry & Larry Bland |
| 2nd | TEAM True Roux Jade Poche, Trudy Leblanc & Melissa Roper |
| 3rd | TEAM Late Entry Brennan Roussel, Troy Roussel & Adam Roussel |
Bread Pudding
| 1st | Cheryl Michel |
| 2nd | Peggy McCreary |
| 3rd | Donnie Zimmer |
Potato Salad
| 1st | Joey St. Pierre |
| 2nd | Mary Ann Rome |
| 3rd | Lisa Stein |
Best Gumbo of the Festival
Seafood Gumbo by Rashad Albert, Wade Faucheux & Ryan Kliebert
Best Gumbo Team
Knights of Columbus
Anne left the festival with a belly full of gumbo. To hear more about what she’s eating around town, follow her on Twitter @AnneCutler!