National Fried Chicken Festival (FCF), presented by Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers, announced its largest and most diverse culinary lineup with over 50 participating restaurants and celebrity chef appearances.
National Fried Chicken Festival from September 30 to October 1
The sixth annual event features chefs and restaurants from 13 states and unique menu items, including vegan and gluten-free options.
Along the New Orleans Lakefront on Lakeshore Drive, this year's food lineup is sure to impress with a variety of new and returning local favorites. Restaurants such as Gus's World Famous Fried Chicken, Southerns, Morrow's and Sun Chong will be representing local cuisine.
Also, there will be restaurants representing every part of the U.S., including Your Side Chicks from Oregon, Bird Box Express and Birrieria la Poblana from the DMV, Four Pegs Smokehouse and POLLO from Kentucky, Fry Daddy's from Alabama, STUFF'D Wings from Texas, PONKO Chicken from Georgia and Rickette's World Famous Chicken, Fish & BBQ from Illinois.
Each restaurant will serve unique spins on fried chicken, and FCF 2023 is proud to be featuring its broadest and most inclusive range of menu offerings. The range of options include vegan, vegetarian, organic, gluten-free and dairy-free options. There's truly something for everyone, so be sure to come out and enjoy these chef's different takes on the iconic Southern dish.
A taste of this year's menu includes never-before-seen items like a 100% gluten-free hot fried chicken sandwich, boudin and seafood stuffed chicken tenders, an organic vegan fried chicken sandwich, crispy fried cornish hens, fried chicken corn dogs and more.
Each of the restaurants will have the opportunity to compete for bragging rights in the festival's two highly coveted tasting contests, "Best Fried Chicken" and "Best Use of Fried Chicken in a Dish." The contests will be judged by a distinguished panel of food critics, restaurateurs, journalists, influencers and more.
Additionally, festival organizers are proud to announce a lineup of nationally renowned celebrity chefs and culinary influencers to be featured on its new HEINZ® "Food is Culture" Stage. These celebrity chefs include Kimberly Nichols (@kimmyskreations.1), Lorenzo Espada "Chef Renzo" (@eatwitzo) and Daron Brown (@daronthechef). The chefs will be leading various cooking demonstrations, ted-style stalks and panel discussions on culinary and food culture throughout the weekend.
"We were very intentional about elevating our overall culinary experience for this year's festival, which shows in our largest-ever restaurant lineup and the addition of the new HEINZ culinary stage," says Cleveland Spears, III, FCF organizer and President/CEO of the Spears Group. "We're proud to be featuring the best of the best America has to offer when it comes to fried chicken - from our participating restaurants and menu items to the national celebrity chefs we're flying in - making FCF 2023 a can't-miss event for festival-goers and foodies everywhere," says Spears.
The National Fried Chicken Festival Presented by Raising Cane's
The National Fried Chicken Festival Presented by Raising Cane's is produced by the Festivals for Good, a Louisiana-based 501c3 nonprofit with the mission of bringing diverse groups of people together to celebrate common interests, such as love for food, while supporting small and diverse businesses.
View the FCF 2023 restaurant lineup and sample menus at friedchickenfestival.com/restaurants and click here for tickets.
