Home of the Great Gumbo Cook-Off

Stir the roux. Feed the festival.

For the 45th anniversary celebration, the Great Gumbo Cook-Off returns with oak-shaded cooking stations, expert judging and plenty of samples for festivalgoers ready to taste the good stuff.

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Cajun Festival banner over the gumbo cook-off grounds
45 years
Taste & vote

What is gumbo?

The dish most associated with the Cajun people

Gumbo can be described as a soup or stew with a roux base. Roux is flour and oil cooked to a golden brown, often slowly in an iron skillet so the heat distributes evenly.

Every pot tells a story

Seafood favorites include shrimp, crab and oysters. Cooks may also use crawfish, sausage, chicken, turkey and other meats, then layer in peppers, celery, onion, garlic, okra and a flavorful stock.

Seafood gumbo team posing at the Cajun Festival Gumbo Cook-Off volunteers smiling beside a large gumbo pot in the kitchen Kountry Kitchen booth with gumbo trophies

Sampling gumbo

Follow the aroma behind the Gazebo Stage

The cooks are located in the oak tree area behind the Gazebo Stage. Buy food tickets at the ticket booth, give tickets to a gumbo cook and they will serve a sample of their gumbo.

Judging is handled by expert judges selected for their knowledge of gumbo. No politicians or media personalities here — the cooks have to make the good stuff.

Gumbo Bowls
  • $3 8 oz. non-seafood gumbo bowl
  • $4 8 oz. seafood gumbo bowl
  • $2 4 oz. sample cup

Taste the tradition

See why gumbo anchors the festival

From the dark roux to the final ladle, gumbo is patient cooking, family pride and Cajun tradition served one cup at a time.

Do you want to enter?

Compete in the Great Gumbo Cook-Off

The entry fee is $40. Contestants must bring at least 5 gallons of gumbo and cooked rice to go with it. Gumbo must be cooked on the festival grounds.

michellereichle067@sbcglobal.net (210) 854-3060

Cook-off categories

  • Professional
  • Amateur
  • Culinary students, sponsored by Kiolbassa Provisions Company

Professionals include cooks who have a restaurant, work in one, cater or make their living in food service. Amateurs do not cook for a living. Culinary students are currently enrolled in a culinary program.

What the committee provides

Cups, spoons, sanitary gloves and napkins are provided for contestants.

Food ticket payout

Contestants receive a collection can and are paid 70% of the ticket value collected. The remainder supports the nonprofit Lakehills Community Center.

Serving prices for cooks

Seafood gumbo may be charged at $3 per cup. Non-seafood gumbo may be charged at $2.50 per 6-ounce cup.

First Place Professional Second Place Professional First Place Amateur Second Place Amateur First Place Culinary Second Place Culinary Showmanship

Rules & registration

Download, fill out and email the form

Open the fillable PDF, complete the registration form, save it, then email it back to Michelle Reichle.

Open PDF Form Email Michelle

A variety of Cajun delicacies

Built on tradition, cooked by volunteers

The Cajun Festival has built its reputation for an incredible array of Cajun delicacies, authentically prepared with strict attention to Cajun tradition and exacting recipes by volunteer cooks. No outside food vendors are allowed to cook Cajun Festival dishes.

Festival volunteer serving Cajun food
Serving stations full of festival favorites
Cajun seafood platter with shrimp, corn and potatoes
Seafood, spice and Cajun abundance
Volunteers preparing bread for Cajun festival food service
Volunteer hands make the festival possible
Family enjoying gumbo samples at the festival
Come hungry and bring the whole krewe
Crawfish Pie Crawfish Etouffee Jambalaya Boudin Red Beans and Rice Cajun Meat Pies Cajun Fried Shrimp Catfish Kiolbassa Sausage on a Stick Boudin Poppers Bread Pudding with Whiskey Sauce Pecan Pralines Pecan Tarts Buttermilk Tarts Assorted Cakes