Louisiana Food & Wine Festival Announces Final Schedule and NEW Features This Year

The Louisiana Food & Wine Festival is now less than 30 days away, taking place September 19 – 22, 2024. This world-class culinary and beverage celebration is presented by Rouses Markets and hosted by Visit Lake Charles. The festival announced its final schedule for the Grand Tasting on Saturday and new features and activation areas coming to the weekend’s events: a new Rosé Love Garden, which will feature a variety of rosé wine tastings and several new Cooling Lounges, with plenty of fans and seating. New BBQ People’s Choice Awards have been added to Friday night’s Fire on the Lake event and the Professionally Judged Best Taste Awards and People’s Choice Best Taste Awards will take place again at Saturday’s Grand Tasting. 

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2024 

“Louisiana’s Celebrity Chefs Wine Dinner” - 6:00 pm Reception, 7:00 pm Dinner, location L’Auberge Casino Resort Lake Charles, presented by Explore Louisiana, Louisiana Seafood and Sysco. A gourmet food and wine lover’s experience with a six-course dinner, featuring a host of celebrated chefs either from Louisiana or from around the globe, inspired by Louisiana cuisine. This year’s chefs include Jernard Wells, Celebrity TV Host/Chef and Author; Paul Fehribach, Executive Chef/Partner and Author, Big Jones, Chicago, IL and a James Beard Foundation award eight-time semifinalist for Best Chef Great Lakes; Huy Pham, Sushi Chef, Yakuza House, Metairie, LA; Kevin McCarthy, Executive Chef, L’Auberge Casino Resort Lake Charles, LA; Leonair Dorsey, Head Pastry Chef, Gracious Bakery, New Orleans, LA and a Louisiana Seafood chef representative. Each course will be expertly paired with the perfect wine by David Reuss, Advanced Sommelier, Jackson Family Wines, the official festival wine partner. The reception will showcase culinary creations from the students and instructors of SOWELA Technical Community College, along with Ryan Anderson, aka “Oyster Daddy” Little Moon Oyster Ranch, from Grand Isle, LA. 

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2024 

“Louisiana Inspired Master Classes” 10:30 am – 4:00 pm, SOWELA Technical Community College, presented by SOWELA, Rouses Markets and Louisiana Seafood. 

A series of interactive and intimate sessions with guest celebrity chefs, cookbook authors, beverage experts, tastemakers, artisans and more. 

• 10:30 – 11:30 am: “The Perfect Wine & Oyster Pairings” with David Reuss, Advanced Sommelier, Jackson Family Wines and Ryan Anderson, aka “Oyster Daddy” – Little Moon Oyster Ranch, Grand Isle, LA. 

• 12:00 – 1:00 pm: “The Art of Making Southern-Style Collard Greens” Jernard Wells, Award-Winning TV Host, CLEO TV “New Soul Kitchen”, Celebrity Chef/Best-Selling Author, with a signature seafood dish from his newest cookbook, Southern Inspired: More than 100 Delicious Recipes from My American Table to Yours, paired with a signature Bardstown Bourbon cocktail. 

• 1:30 – 2:30 pm: “The Freshest of Fresh Sushi: Breaking Down a Yellowfin Tuna and Savoring Varieties of Different Cuts & Flavors” with Huy Pham, Sushi Chef, Yakuza House, Metairie, LA, with a variety of the freshest of fresh, yellowfin tuna sushi cut sampling appetizers paired with several varieties of Tequila Ocho and Mezcal Vega. 

• 3:00 – 4:00 pm: “Créole Soirée - Put a Party in Your Mouth!” with Sheri Raleigh-Yearby, Chef Instructor, Cast Iron Skillet Culinaire, Waco, TX. Enjoy the bold melt-in-your-mouth flavors of traditional Southwest Louisiana Créole Cuisine and don't forget the Lagniappe and special Deep Eddy Vodka signature cocktails. 

“Fire on the Lake” 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm, Bord du Lac Park, Lake Charles, LA, presented by Lake Charles Regional Airport. A quintessential Louisiana celebration of live fire cooking, overlooking beautiful the beautiful shores of Lake Charles. The event features a variety of slow-cooked, grilled, and smoked meats, Louisiana Seafood and vegetarian creations from some of the south’s most celebrated Pitmasters, chefs and grill masters. Enjoy unlimited tasting bites, wine, beer, and spirits tastings with a souvenir glass. Lively zydeco music from Horace Trahan and the Ossun Express will keep everybody up on their feet, doing the Cajun two-step and the zydeco cha-cha. 

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2024 

“Louisiana Food & Wine Festival, Grand Tasting” 4:00 – 7:00 pm, Bord du Lac Park, Lake Charles, LA. A fun afternoon of culinary and beverage tastings, with live music in the beautiful surroundings of the Bord du Lac Park. Tickets are all-inclusive for food and beverage tastings, including a souvenir glass for unlimited beverage tastings from hundreds of wines, beer and spirits exhibitors, and a “Taste of Louisiana Alley” with samplings from some of Louisiana’s best chefs from regions around the entire state, sponsored by Explore Louisiana and Louisiana Seafood. The Taste of Louisiana Alley currently features Experience Ruston, Louisiana’s Cajun Bayou and St. Francisville. “Louisiana’s Craft Brews Alley”, sponsored by Louisiana Craft Brewers Guild showcases breweries from around Louisiana, with fun and lively music from the Flamethrowers. 

The Rouses Markets Cooking Demonstration Stage: 

• 4:15 – 4:45 pm: Rouses Markets 
• 5:00 – 5:30 pm: Jernard Wells, Award-Winning TV Host, CLEO TV “New Soul Kitchen”,  Celebrity Chef/Best-Selling Author 
• 5:45 – 6:15 pm: Paul Fehribach, Executive Chef/Partner and Author, Big Jones, Chicago, IL 
• 6:30 – 7:00 pm: Amanda Cusey, Executive Chef, The Terrace at Lake Area Adventures, Lake Charles, LA

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2024 

“Sunday Jazz Brunch” 11:00 am–12:30 pm; 12:30–2:00 pm, SOWELA Technical Community College, presented by SOWELA. The signature Jazz Brunch is one like no other, with an all-inclusive priced ticket featuring unlimited beverage tastings with a souvenir glass, live music, a lavish brunch with carving stations, salad bars, Louisiana Seafood stations, made-to-order omelet stations, variety of desserts and more. A variety of the festival’s official beverage partners will participate with an impressive Bloody Mary Bar, Mimosas, sparkling wines, sprits, wine, and beer and more. A fantastic festival finale event!

Volunteers that participate in a volunteer shift/role on Saturday, September 21 for the Grand Tasting or a total of 8 volunteer hours or more leading up to the Saturday, Grand Tasting or Sunday Jazz Brunch, will earn a FREE TICKET to the Friday night, Fire on the Lake. The United Way of Southwest Louisiana is the festival’s Official Charity Partner, with a portion of the festival’s ticket proceeds donated to United Way of Southwest Louisiana, along with 100% of the proceeds from a “Wine & Spirits Pull” on Saturday. Opportunities are available for adults 21 and older to volunteer. Details can be found on the festival website here, where there is a link to sign-up online for various positions, dates and times.

The festival takes place in Lake Charles, Louisiana September 19 – 22, 2024, as a showcase of culinary, beverage, and music that highlights Louisiana’s unique culture and heritage, celebrity guest chefs, local chefs, celebrity winemakers/proprietors, artisans, farmers, musicians, local craft spirits and beers, along with renowned wine, spirits, and beer brands from around the world. The most up to date festival information is available on the website, Louisiana Food & Wine Festival and the festival’s social media channels Facebook and Instagram.