The Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival will return for its 50th celebration this weekend, April 8 to 10, at Ponchatoula’s Memorial Park and North Sixth Street. It will mark the return of the festival for the first time since 2019. The festival went on hiatus for the 2020 and 2021 season due to Covid shutdowns.
The festival boasts that it’s the largest free festival in the state and offers live music, rides, games, a parade, a strawberry eating contest, and, of course, plenty of food, including strawberry shortcake and deep-fried strawberries.
Festival runners hope for record-breaking crowds that will generate support for local strawberry farmers who keep the sweet stuff growing. The strawberry farmers from Tangipahoa Parish and Livingston Parish felt the lack of festival for the past two years; they depend on the festival to push their product into the hands of those who want it. Organizers are especially excited that the Strawberry Festival won’t have to compete with the French Quarter Festival in New Orleans.
If you cannot attend the festival, you can support Louisiana strawberry farmers by buying Louisiana strawberries at your local grocery store. Louisiana strawberries are specifically marked with the name of the local farm from which they came. In times like these, when the prices of fertilizer and packaging are increasing, it’s more important than ever to support local farmers.
Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival hours:
Friday 12:00 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.
Saturday 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.
Sunday 9:00 a.m. (church service) to 6:00 p.m.
