Chackbay holds claim to being region’s real gumbo capitol

Both Chackbay in Lafourche Parish and Bridge City in Jefferson Parish hold big gumbo festivals, causing confusion over which town serves the superior soupy seafood dish.

Sometime during the mid-1970s, then-governor Edwin Edwards proclaimed Chackbay the “Gumbo Capitol of the State,” but he honored Bridge City as the “Gumbo Capitol of the World.”

Needless to say, the people of Chackbay are still objecting.

“They got the titles backward,” said Faron Molaison, coordinator of the Louisiana Gumbo Festival of Chackbay. “We’ve got the better gumbo. I’ll challenge them with our gumbo.”

Visitors can taste what Molaison is talking about when the Chackbay Volunteer Fire Department conducts its 36th annual Gumbo Festival on Friday, Oct. 19, beginning at 6 p.m., and at noon Saturday, Oct. 20 and Sunday, Oct. 21 at the Chackbay/ Choupic Fairgrounds. The event site is located on Louisiana Highway 304, just north of Thibodaux.

Admission is free. On-site parking is available.

Money raised from the festival will help fund the day-to-day operations of the fire department.

Molaison will be serving chicken and sausage gumbo, and seafood gumbo inside a kitchen on the festival grounds.

The fire department touts the five-acre site as state-of-the-art.

On the grounds is a 100-foot by 150-foot pavilion to help keep people out of the sun. A fence encloses the entire fairgrounds.

Cajun Amusement is providing the rides for the festival, which will include bumper cars and the ultimate thriller, the Zipper.

Fifty-dollar pay-one-price armbands will allow visitors unlimited admission to attractions. Visitors can buy tickets for individual rides, or pay $15 for a designated number of hours of ride access.

The band Chee-Weez will open the music for the festival Friday from 8 p.m. to midnight. Sound Company, Foret Tradition and Souled Out will play from noon to midnight Saturday. Gary T. and Don Rich will supply the sounds Sunday afternoon into the early evening.

On Sunday, beginning at 10:30 a.m., a parade will take place featuring Gumbo Festival royalty, the Chackbay 12- and 13-year-old Cajun football team and cheerleaders, the Chackbay Fire Dept. and visiting fire departments, the Penny Rodrigue School of Dance and local officials.

Two live auctions will be held, one on Friday beginning at 6:30 p.m. under the pavilion, the other on Sunday at 1 p.m. Items to be auctioned include ice chests, gift certificates and furniture.

Molaison said visitors can expect to see a few candidates for public office walking around the grounds of the festival since Saturday, Oct 20, is Election Day.

For more information, call (985) 633-9949.