Port Barre Cracklin Festival
There’s only one thing Louisiana loves more than boudin and that’s cracklins, Road Trips Foodies. Wait, what’s a cracklin? You’ve probably heard of pork rinds. Well, a cracklin is a pork rind’s bigger, better, and tastier sibling, according to Southern food aficionados. This popular, southern snack is made by deep frying chunks of pork in its own rendered oil . . . twice.
The best place to sample fresh pork cracklins? At the annual Cracklin Festival set for November 7 through 10, 2019, in Veterans Memorial Park, 129 Park Street, Port Barre, Louisiana. Every year, since 1985, locals and visitors alike have dashed to the small town of Port Barre in November to sample this Cajun treat.
Of course there’s a cracklin cookoff. Amateur and professional cracklin cookers square off in separate categories for bragging rights and big trophies.
The festival also features a full carnival for kids, children’s games, a beauty pageant, and live Cajun, zydeco, and swamp pop music bands (plus even more food than just cracklins). The festival is a major fundraiser for the Port Barre Lions Club, and proceeds fund reading glasses and eye exams to citizens in need.
(Photo courtesy of Cracklin Festival)
