Larose French Food Festival: What do I need to know?

It’s an archetypical small town food festival in the south LA mode. Been around 40+ years, it’s a fundraiser for the 2500 resident town’s nonprofit community center and 77 acre park. Free entry, free parking, inexpensive food compared to for-profit “city” festivals run by commercial fest producers. Live music most of the day and evening, a few live auctions of donated stuff (it’s an election year, so watch for politicians running up the prices to get their names mentioned, it’s entertaining.). The people are friendly and unpretentious, happy to chat with visitors and tell you about their park and festival. Larose is Coach O’s hometown (and mine) so expect to see beaucoup Tiger pride all over.

Food is cooked and served 100% by volunteers. Much of the seafood served is locally caught and donated (like all of the fried fish, and much of the shrimp). Various stands/booths are manned by groups of friends, families, etc who typically cook the same dishes year after year. Look for the boucherie stand, serving bayou style pork grillades, pork routee (a pork and onion stew), cracklings, headcheese, etc all made on site; crawfish etouffee, alligator sauce piquant, red beans, white beans, fried fish (a variety mix of specs, redfish, and other donated catch), shrimp boulettes (fried balls of ground shrimp and potatoes, plus seasonings), and other typical fair foods like boudin balls, chicken wings, hamburgers, hot dogs, poboys, etc.

A very sweet (pardon the pun) thing at the FFF: the Sweet Shop booth run by the local senior citizens organization. The seniors collect donated sugar, etc and make things like pralines, peanut butter fudge, tea cakes, candies, etc to sell, including the traditional plain custard sweet dough pie, tarte a la bouillie. Its not Instagrammable macaroons—it’s the kind of 60s sugary love your memere used to make, if you were lucky enough to have a Bayou cajun memere. Heavenly hash squares, coconut pralines.....

Anyway, it’s held under a pavilion in a park, so even if it rains, you can enjoy yourself.

ETA: Larose is 1.5 hrs from NOLA.

Tremendous write-up. Grew up in Valentine so would always go with my parents to the festival. The older I've gotten (married now), I appreciate the food stands and family atmosphere a bit more. Plus, I get my fix of real grillades! The wife had no clue (from Raceland) what it was and then I introduced her to them. She's been hooked ever since

Hotels: it’s a small town, no hotel. One semi-fleabag motel I cannot recommend.
Nearest chain hotel is a Holiday Inn Express in Cut Off, about 5 minutes drive south. Another one in Mathews, about 20 minutes north. It’s relatively new, so shouldn’t be too shabby yet.

There’s a place in Galliano on Air BnB, about 8 miles/10 mins away. A few BnBs. Closest larger town is Thibodaux, home to Nicholls State U with a few hotels and some BnB properties. That’s about a 45 minute drive north. Thib has a branch of the Jean Lafitte National Park focused on the wetlands Acadian cultural area, as well the Laurel Valley sugar plantation historic site (store, ruins of a refinery, etc).