Gretna fest took place on Saturday, April 18th with about 20 food trucks serving everything from…read moreice cream and snowballs to burgers and seafood. Two trucks that stood out were Crescent City Burgers and Eli's Kitchen. CCB'S Stuffed Shrimp burger was a flavorful hamburger patty with small shrimp mixed in. There was a delish Cajun spice to it which set it apart from other burgers. Eli's had the best birria ramen and tacos I've had at these events. It's an upgrade from regular tacos. Hope they both return next year!

Great food and great people You will have lines to wait in…read more, but the food is worth the wait. They also had entertainment. Please check it out.

This is my favorite spring time festival here in New Orleans. The weather isn't too hot yet, and…read morethe location is perfect. Don't let that fool you, bring a hat and sunscreen. I didn't go looking for a particular band although I enjoyed what I heard. I came for the food!!! I went on Saturday which is day 2 of the festival. We got there around 11:30, it wasn't too crowded but they were definitely in full swing. By 4:30 the crowd had tripled in size. Lines were moving quickly and the options were endless. We tried several things and everything was so fresh and on point. A few standouts were the oxtail melt, the gumbo dumplings, and the must try alligator cheesecake. My only suggestion would be to allow water bottles to be brought in or, at least empty ones and have a fill station. Next, more seating in the sponsor lounge. The venue was large, and had plenty of space for more seating areas. Also the food in the lounge was lacking in variety, although I enjoyed the salad offering. The bartenders up there were great, and I loved the terrace overlooking the festival.

A time was had. The weather was nice. The food and live band was awesome. We enjoyed ourselves…read more There were no fights, just good food, music, and positive vibes and energy.

It was a very nice and enjoyable family fun day at this festival. The rides were fantastic, mainly…read morefor the children and there were lots of games to play for both children and adults also. Most rides required four tickets and tickets are $1 each. There were lots of children out gallivanting from ride to ride and those with the $25 unlimited ride wrist band was certainly living it up. The rain did muddy the lawn near the rides but it wasn't too bad. It was just so nice to see them having fun. There was definitely ample space for folks to roam about the festival without bumping elbows with one another and the music was pretty decent. Now for the star of the festival, the gumbo...or shall I shall fumbo (fumble). I'm not sure who calls this place "the world's best gumbo" but what they're selling for $8 is horrendous IMO. There was no flavor and it was way too watery. This bears no resemblance to traditional New Orleans style gumbo. I really hate to say this but they may want to reconsider a name change from "Gumbo Capital of the World" Festival to "Bridge City's Best-We-Can-Do Gumbo" Festival. You will need tickets to purchase food but the ticket line moves fast, which is a good thing. It was good to see lots of cops present but they really needed someone directing traffic. Other than the sacrilege gumbo, we really enjoyed ourselves and the hosts, staff and everyone working there were very friendly. They even gave out free pepper sauce upon leaving. TIP: Be sure to bring your own folding chairs!

This was without a doubt the lamest festival I have ever been to!…read more As much as Bridge City,LA boasts about being the gumbo capital of the world they really fail to live up to their own expectations. I had seen several signs advertising about this gumbo festival. So I was pretty stoked about checking it out. I guess I had a totally different picture in my mind of what it really was. In my mind I thought it was going to be set up like a cook off with multiple chefs showing off their culinary skills. I also pictured people selling arts and crafts. I even pictured a real Zydeco band up on stage. But alas that is not the way it was. Here's what really happened at the Gumbo Fest. All the food was at one booth and the gumbo was mediocre. Yes you heard me the gumbo did not live up to the empty promises that they made. Plus it was $7.50 a bowl. I know of several restaurants that I can buy it cheaper. There were no arts and crafts. There were only crappy knick knacks. This stuff included the kind of crap that you would buy off of a street vendor at a Mardi Gras Parade, or the useless things that are typically on sale at a truck stop. The band they had on stage was a mediocre cover band. Neither me nor most of the other people at this event paid much attention to this band (maybe because they weren't that great). The only thing that could even remotely be entertaining here were the carnival rides. But alas I am NOT a 9 year old child so carnival rides are out of the question. I don't know if they had anything else because I didn't stick around very long. I really think that the people of Bridge City should have put way more thought into this before they decided have this little shindig. But rest assured I will not be returning to this festival. In short this festival might be entertaining.......If your a 7 year old!!!!

I love Gretna Fest. Great value, atmosphere, sound, parking and so much more. I've been going for…read moreabout 20 years, taking my kids then they were little and now looking forward to it with my sweetie. The Lineup is eclectic and there's always something to enjoy. It's frustrating every year because because the Lineup should come out sooner, in my opinion, but maybe that's because I'm excited to see it.

OK. So I am lame. I have been invited to house parties near the festival area for years, but I've…read morenever gone. This year with the Sunday closers being Pat Benatar followed by the B-52s. Yep I'm there. Small pet peeve. There is no way to buy advance tickets locally without all the ticketmaster fees so my $20 advance ticket instantly became a $31 & change one. Wait to pay the $25 in cash a the door and risk a line... Lots of food options and drink options. I enjoyed my frozen sangria and I should have made it back to whatever bar/restaurant was offering spooky batched cocktails. My favorite moment outside of the headliners was the Chee Weez singing Don't Stop Believing... and changing the lyric from "born in South Detroit" to "born in Westwego" which doesn't really scan but was funny. The shuttle from Oakwood was super easy and the staff was really nice!

I love this fest!! I only got to go Sunday (2017)…read more Saw a couple of awesome bands, and had some great food. Antoine's had an Oysters, baby scallops, and peas penne pasta in a white wine sauce topped with a two cheese mix and panko. Let me say, for $8, it was a generous portion ....but even more importantly, it was generous on flavor! I have been saving up to go to Antoines, but I'm going to have to go anyway (lol). I was completely satisfied. I also had a Fried Oyster Po boy from Acme Oyster House. I think it was ok, but the bun to oyster ratio was not in the oyster's favor. The Brass-O-Holics are an awesome group, and their unique twist on classic R&B and hip hop had the crowd dancing, and grooving. Excellent musicians, soloists, and very tight. I will look for them again. Although I didn't get to hear/see Bag O Donuts, I've seen them before and they are also, and excellent, entertaining group.

This was my first time going to oyster fest and I was only there for 30 minutes because of the…read moredreadful Summer heat! Other than the heat, the food was delicious! (Fave to least) Red Fish Grill Oyster BBQ Po-boy This was probably my top favorite out of all the vendors! I mean you get some mad flavor from the crystal bbq and the blue cheese dressing cool down some of the spice - perfect combo! Trennese Oyster Ceviche Oh this was great especially being in the heat. This came with 4 total and each topped with shrimp chunks, white fish, and bell peppers - very delicious and fresh. Mac n' Cheese with Boudin The shell pasta was perfectly cooked and the cheese was the perfect consistency. I can't recall oyster being in this dish but it was defiantly seafood mixed in. DTB Oyster and Grits Nice texture in the grits with pickled veggies on top! Corn meal oysters were a bit small, but the overall flavors were on point. Little Korea BBQ Ice Pops - (Mango, Vietnamese Coffee, Cherry & Chocolate Chips) My favorite had to be the mango! It had a nice and smooth texture, very refreshing. My only request is changing the date to a cooler season. I wasn't able to enjoy my time at the festival because I spent my time complaining about the heat. I'm apologizing for not having the prices because it was too hot and I was too lazy to take a photo of each vendor. I will do better next year!

This is a fabulous Festival, offering endless booths of original Seafood dishes and continuous…read moreoriginal music from local bands. I deduct 1 star ONLY because it was dangerously hot out and there were not nearly enough tents for people to find shade. Only one-tenth head very tiny misters. THE DEAL: upgrade to the VIP passes and stay cool with air conditioning. Totally worth it!

From the owner: Food festival specializing in Louisiana's bountiful seafoodread more

What a difference a change in venue makes! I've attended the seafood festival for a few years and…read moreit used to be a street festival near the casino. Moving it to Lafayette Square seems to have quadrupled the attendance. We went late on Saturday and the lines for some items were ridiculously long, especially since we had the little nieces with us. We got a few items from booths with shorter lines and everything was tasty. The crowds were well behaved and security was keeping paths clear. There seemed to be fewer vendors than last year, but maybe not as many applied.

Hellooooo N'awlins! you sure know how to bring the spirit out in me, and what better way than by…read morespending an afternoon jamming to Kermit Ruffins and the Rebirth Brass band while enjoying food from some of New Orleans best, including but not limiting the list to Galatoire's, Remoulade, Acme, etc etc etc... After walking around all the tents and considering our options we opted for 4 dishes; -Cafe Giovanni's Voodoo Shrimp and Grits and their Creole Shrimp and Corn bisque. My favorite out of these two were the Shrimp and Grits, which had been bbqed and glazed with a sweet and sour sauce...sooo good. The bisque was pretty stellar too, but a little too chunky for my taste. -Ninja's Softshell Crab Po-boy made an impression on us when we saw a lady walking around with just the crab. We quickly inquired about the dish and she told us it was supposed to be a po-boy but she asked for it solo....say no more! that amazing thing comes in a po-boy??!! we ran to the tent and devoured a very generous portion.... sooo good! - and for the grand finale I must tell you about Grand Isles' Seafood Salad, whomever came up with this amazing dish needs to be praised. The Shrimp had been bbqed in what seemed like a special coconut sauce giving it an oriental twist, the mussels were steamed to perfection and the crab was sauteed in a bed of yellow squash, caramelized red onions, and many other fall harvest vegetables. HHMM HMMM HMM! As if all that weren't enough, the liquor was flowing from different spots and the beer offered was $3 Coors and $4 Blue Moons! yes to the later..... I had a fantastic time at the 4th Annual New Orleans Seafood Festival!

I would rate this a one-star, but how can you hate a farmer's market? I only rate it low because…read moreit consisted of 2-3 tables which was basically a bake sale. I was really hoping for some seafood, but was out of luck. They also do friday night concerts in the summer at the farmer's market.

My friends and I planned an outing today at the Westwego Farmers Market. Just arrived and the…read moreplace was Closed! So disappointing!

Great weekly festival. A festival full of local vendors. A fun way to celebrate the middle of the…read moreweek. Convenient to head to after work if you work downtown and lots of street and lot parking options if you're coming from elsewhere. Even if you don't know the band on the line up it's a fun spot to meet up with friends or just sit and enjoy the springtime New Orleans weather.

I've been coming to these for concerts for years and was glad to see them back after the pandemic…read moreshut things down. And I have to say better than ever. The food and drink vendors have tripled from what I recall and the days of old when you had to purchase tickets and then go to vendors are over. Just get in line and order and pay. They could use some additional porta potties though. The music is top notch local music and it's free all right in the heart of the CBD. You can bring a chair, blanket or just stand if you like and enjoy the music in the small square/park. It does tend to get fairly crowded but I've always been able to find a spot to plop down and enjoy. Do support the local vendors to keep these events free.