This year's official Andouille Festival poster has a pelican, the parish waterways, cypress trees and an andouille smokehouse. It was painted by New Orleans artist Becky Fos, and The Magnolia Group sponsored it. The initials DBW honor Dana Bardell Wallace, who painted the festival's artwork for the previous three years. The St. John the Baptist Parish Government Complex at 1811 W. Airline Highway in LaPlace sells the poster from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and takes cash or cards.
That poster opens a season that runs through all three River Parishes, with each parish hosting one month. St. John has October, St. Charles has November and St. James has December. Each event also sits closer to the Mississippi River levee than the one before. On Christmas Eve the whole thing ends on top of the levee.
October starts inland, at a park off I-10
The 51st Andouille Festival runs October 16 to 18, 2026, at the St. John Community Center and Thomas F. Daley Memorial Park, 2900 U.S. Hwy 51 in LaPlace. The festival's directions start at I-10 Exit 209, then go south on US-51. Of the three fall stops, this one sits farthest from the river.
Hours are 6 to 10 p.m. Friday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday. The festival's information page lists daily admission at $5 per person. Ride ticket prices on the same page sit next to a 2025 advance-sale deadline. Check them again closer to the weekend.
The music schedule builds toward Sunday:
- Friday, Oct. 16: ALT' EGO from 6:45 to 8 p.m., then Nashville South from 8:30 to 10 p.m.
- Saturday, Oct. 17: Tee Nah Nah, Born to Boogie Band, Gfunk, Shot Time, Alaina McClue and Parish County Line, with Lil' Nathan Williams & The Zydeco Big Timers closing from 8:50 to 10 p.m.
- Sunday, Oct. 18: 3rd Street Band, then Peyton Falgoust Band from 2 to 3:15 p.m. At 3:15, a second-line parade with Hot 8 Brass Band and Tribe Called Gumbolia. Then Partners-N-Crime, Juvenile from 5 to 5:45 p.m., and The Phunky Monkeys to close.
Sunday is also a "Pink Out". At this festival, food and drinks are bought from vendors. The vendor roster includes Down Home Creole Cookin', BRS Seafood, Big Momma's Catering, Two T's & A Pot and Numbers Eatery. The andouille shows up in crawfish boudin balls, chicken-and-andouille gumbo, andouille nachos and deep-fried andouille dogs. That gumbo comes back in December.
November moves to River Road, and the parking moves onto the levee
Destrehan Plantation's 54th Annual Fall Festival is November 14 and 15, 2026, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days, at 13034 River Road in Destrehan. A full day costs $8 for adults and teens. Children 12 and under get in free. Tours of the plantation home cost $15 and leave every 30 minutes from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Children 12 and under also tour free.
The event page lists more than 150 arts-and-crafts booths and an antique-dealer display in the Mule Barn. There are also pony rides, face painting and a bungee jump. The food court sells Southern-style meals, beer, wine and Plantation Punch.
Parking shows how the season shifts. You can park free on the plantation grounds. Overflow goes onto the levee and to Bridge Park. In October the festival was a short drive south of the interstate. In November some visitors will be parking on the levee itself.
The same names keep turning up
The three events have different organizers in different parishes, but the same performers and dishes appear at more than one:
| Name | First appearance | Second appearance |
|---|---|---|
| Peyton Falgoust Band | Andouille Festival, Sun. Oct. 18, 2–3:15 p.m. | Destrehan Fall Festival, Sun. Nov. 15, 12:30–4 p.m. |
| Ryan Foret & Foret Tradition | Destrehan Fall Festival, Sat. Nov. 14, 12:30–4 p.m. | Festival of the Bonfires, Sun. Dec. 13, 4–6 p.m. |
| Chicken-and-andouille gumbo | Andouille Festival vendors in LaPlace | A gumbo category at the Bonfires cook-off in Lutcher |
If you missed a band in October, the schedule gives you another chance a month later in another parish.
December's festival rehearses Christmas Eve
The Festival of the Bonfires is December 11 to 13, 2026, at Lutcher Recreational Park, 2545 Louisiana Avenue. Along with a bonfire on the festival grounds, this festival lights one out on the levee.
According to the weekend schedule, Friday runs from 2 to 11 p.m.:
- Raised on Radio plays from 3 to 5 p.m.
- Cook-off judging and gumbo service start at 4 p.m.
- Bits N Pieces Reunion Special plays from 6 to 8 p.m.
- At 7 p.m. one bonfire is lit on the levee, and a free bus shuttle takes people out to it.
- Cook-off results come at 8 p.m., and Mixed Nuts plays from 9 to 11 p.m.
The cook-off judges gumbo in three styles: red bean, chicken-andouille and seafood. Friday night also has potato salad and bread pudding contests.
Saturday runs from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. It opens with the children's pageant and Santa in the morning. Lauren Lee Band plays from 6 to 8 p.m. A second bonfire is lit on the festival grounds at 8 p.m., with fireworks at 8:15. Kings of Neon closes the night. Sunday is shorter, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., with a car show, Mike Broussard and Night Train, and Ryan Foret and Foret Tradition Band from 4 to 6 p.m.
The Friday levee fire is also lit at 7 p.m., the same hour as the Christmas Eve fires two weeks later. The festival works as a preview of Christmas Eve.
Lutcher has a newer stop for the same weekend. St. Vincent de Paul opened a thrift store at 1889 W. Main St. on Aug. 3. L'Observateur reported its hours as Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. On the festival's opening Friday, the store is open until 2:30 p.m., which overlaps the festival's first half hour.
Last year's levee rules, and why they matter by late November
After the festival, the bonfires are built by people on the levee, under rules set jointly by the parishes and the levee district. The 2026 rules have not been published yet. The 2025 Bonfire Season Guidelines from St. James Parish, St. John the Baptist Parish and the Pontchartrain Levee District Board of Commissioners show how last season worked:
- The season ran from November 25 to December 26, 2025. No one could go onto the levee or start a permitted bonfire before November 25.
- Both parishes began issuing permits on Monday, November 24, 2025. St. James issued its permits from the St. James Parish Welcome Center. Builders needed permission from every landowner whose property a bonfire would sit on.
- No household construction or demolition debris, storm debris or other debris of any kind was allowed anywhere in the levee right of way.
- Fires could be built only on the levee's aggregate crown. Each could be no more than 15 feet tall, on a traditional 12-by-12-foot footprint. No fireworks displays were allowed on the flood side.
- Construction had to be finished by noon on December 24. No fire could be lit before 7 p.m. that night, and lighting depended on the weather and on local officials' decision.
- Festivities had to end by 11 p.m., when participants and visitors were asked to leave the levee.
Last year, the season opened the week of Thanksgiving. The 2026 guidelines will set this year's start date. Until the parishes and levee district publish the 2026 version, treat these as last season's rules.
Watching from River Road on December 24
On its Christmas Eve page, the festival suggests arriving before 6 p.m. for the 7 p.m. lighting. It says parking is in lots along LA 641. From LA 3213, its directions take LA 44 and then River Road through Gramercy and Lutcher. The page is not dated, so check it again in December.
The last stop on River Road this year is the levee crown between Gramercy and Lutcher. If you plan to build a bonfire, last year's permits opened on November 24. If you are coming to watch, plan to arrive before 6 p.m.
If you have family coming in for any of these weekends, or neighbors who keep asking what St. John, St. Charles and St. James are like from October through Christmas, the agents at Century 21 Action Louisiana know these River Road weekends well and are happy to talk them through. Contact Us anytime.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
