Beignet Fest 2026
Choosing a beignet sounds simple enough until someone offers
you one filled with crabmeat, another with praline, and a third that doubles as
a fried chicken sandwich.
At Beignet Fest, deciding where to start required a little
strategy—and perhaps a friend willing to share. The November 7 festival at New
Orleans City Park's Festival Grounds gave one of the city's signature foods
plenty of room to play, with a purpose that extended well beyond dessert.
For its ninth annual event, the festival's announced menu
brought together 25 local food vendors and nearly 50 beignet dishes.
Traditional powdered sugar preparations shared the lineup with sweet, savory,
stuffed, and sandwich-style interpretations. With so many options, beignets
could easily become the main course before anyone started thinking about
something sweet.
Loretta's Authentic Pralines offered several reasons to make
room for another order. Its menu included praline and chocolate praline
beignets, the business's crabmeat beignet, and burger and peanut butter and
jelly versions. Nearby, Lillie's Cajun Kitchen advertised crawfish étouffée
beignet fries and a Crown apple pie bread pudding beignet, while Café Beignet's
green-and-white truck provided a familiar stop for the powdered sugar crowd.
Ruby Slipper's menu took the sandwich approach with a
Nashville hot chicken beignet sammie, layering crispy chicken, pickles, and
slaw between fried beignets. On the sweeter side, its fruity lemon-glazed
beignets combined Fruity Pebbles, strawberry cheesecake, and macerated
strawberries. Elsewhere on the festival menu, Asian Outdoor Kitchen and Magasin
Vietnamese Café offered beignet banh mis, while sweet potatoes appeared in
several preparations, including beignets and calas from Viola's Heritage
Breads.
The stories behind the food also had a place on this year's
program. A new addition, The Porch, presented by Blue Runner, paired Chef Kevin
Belton with guests for conversations about Louisiana's culinary traditions. The
schedule included Edgar "Dook" Chase IV, PJ's Coffee's Felton Jones, and
Loretta's Authentic Pralines' Robbie Harrison, giving familiar restaurant names
and festival flavors a more personal connection.
"Everything she did, she did with love, and people
appreciated that," Harrison said of his mother, Loretta Harrison. His remarks
brought the conversation back to the person behind the recipes and the care she
put into her work. Amid a festival filled with creative interpretations of
familiar foods, that connection between cooking and the people doing it felt
especially fitting.
Across the grounds, the afternoon unfolded around food
booths, picnic tables, and groups settled into folding chairs or directly on
the grass. Some visitors carried multiple plates, while others gathered with
drinks and friends between stops. One attendee's shirt offered a particularly
practical approach to the occasion, "My Beignet Eating Shirt," complete with a
printed dusting of white powder.
The music lineup featured Imagination Movers, Amanda Shaw,
Maggie Koerner, and Dragon Smoke, with DJ Flowerchild between performances. The
stage gave visitors another reason to linger after their plates were empty,
while the artist market offered plenty to browse between bites.
Vendor displays included colorful portraits of Louisiana
musicians, hand-printed artwork, glassware, and jewelry. At No Remnants, a sign
explained that its jewelry was hand-cut from vintage tins, with rows of
earrings arranged beneath a floral canopy. The market added another layer of
local creativity to a day already full of inventive food.
The festival's gathering spaces offered different ways to
enjoy the afternoon. Purple umbrellas shaded tables in the Abita area, while
orange tablecloths and a matching disco ball decorated the Lagniappe Lounge. At
the Ruby Slipper VIP experience, a Plinko-style game, beignet-themed coloring
sheets, and a balloon-framed photo backdrop added playful details alongside the
food and drinks.
At the Kids Village, sensory-friendly activities helped make
the festival welcoming to children with different needs. That commitment to
inclusion has guided Beignet Fest since Amy and Sherwood Collins founded it in
2016, inspired by their experience raising a son with autism and the need for
more local programs serving children on the spectrum.
Festival proceeds benefit the Beignet Fest Foundation, which
supports children with autism and their families throughout Greater New
Orleans. According to the foundation, it has raised more than $3 million
through ticket sales, donations, and corporate sponsorships and supported 31
local programs. Its grants help fund services including adaptive swimming
lessons, inclusive arts and computing programs, sensory-friendly storytimes,
and support for families.
The foundation's work also includes Camp Benny, a summer
camp designed for autistic children ages 6 to 11, and Benny's Sensory On-Site
Spaces, which provides a calming environment at public events for people with
sensory sensitivities. Those programs carry the purpose of the festival into
the rest of the year, helping more families take part in the community around
them. To learn more, support the foundation, or follow announcements about the
next Beignet Fest, visit beignetfest.com.
