LAFAYETTE, La. — After 16 years of celebrating Louisiana's signature sausage, the Boudin Cook-Off and Bacon Festival has been permanently canceled, leaving local businesses and festival-goers disappointed over the loss of a beloved community tradition.
The annual event, held at Parc International in Lafayette, brought together vendors, families and boudin enthusiasts from across Acadiana.
In a statement, Robert Carriker, founder of the event, tells KATC:
"After 16 wonderful years, we’ve decided to bring the Boudin Cookoff to a close. What began as a small idea grew into an incredible celebration of our region’s culinary heritage, thanks to the dedication of so many volunteers, community partners, businesses, and of course, the talented boudin makers who shared their craft year after year. We are grateful to everyone who supported the event and helped make it such a special tradition. While it’s time for us to step back, the memories, friendships, and community spirit that the Cookoff created will always remain."
For Jonathan Linzer, part owner of The Lazy Caveman in Broussard, the news came as a shock. His business specializes in boudin and other Southern cuisine, and the festival played a crucial role in the company's success.
"I was sad. It was like shock to us. That's a big, big surprise," Linzer said.
The Lazy Caveman participated in the 2022 festival when Linzer and his business partner were still making boudin from home, uncertain about their product's market potential.
"We participated in 2022 and at that time we were making boudin out of my house at the time. Just two guys that wasn't sure if we had a product that was worth selling," Linzer said.
Their participation proved transformative. The business won first place in the People's Choice category for boudin, providing the confidence boost needed to expand.
"At that event we won our first place in People's Choice for the Boudin Cook-Off and it propelled us into opening a location," Linzer said. "For us it was near and dear to us. It gave us that little extra push to say hey, you can survive in business."
The Lazy Caveman has since opened two locations, crediting the festival with turning their business around.
The festival's impact extended beyond business success to personal memories. Kathleen Mills Jones attended the event for about 10 years with her husband, who died in 2024. The couple would travel to Lafayette to enjoy the music, food and community atmosphere.
"It was real sad when they decided not to do it anymore and I understand why," Mills Jones said.
She had planned to attend this year's festival in her husband's memory.
"My favorite thing I enjoyed the music being able to try the different boudin. Was always fun," Mills Jones said. "It was awesome about the festival you felt like it gave small business the opportunity to try their stuff. Something I really enjoyed is feeling like you were helping mom and pops get their foot up."
Linzer hopes someone will revive the festival in the future, emphasizing its importance to the community and small businesses.
"After 16 years there's some things that stick around, and that's one of them. That's one of the local festivals that is very family oriented and community oriented," Linzer said. "So it would be great if someone could pick it up and run with it."
The festival provided a valuable platform for small vendors to showcase new products and test them with a large audience.
"It allowed small vendors to get in and showcase their newer products that we been working on behind the scenes that you wanna test out in a large market," Linzer said. "So it's definitely going to be a loss for us and something that can't be replaced."
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