In Louisiana, there’s a celebration for just about everything. But only one festival gathers around a pot that’s been simmering for generations: the Louisiana Red Beans and Rice Heritage and Music Festival.
Once a year in Baton Rouge, the Monday ritual steps out of the kitchen and onto a stage. The Louisiana Red Beans and Rice Heritage and Music Festival brings together cooks, musicians, storytellers, and families to celebrate what a bowl of red beans really means.
Rhorer Plaza, in downtown Baton Rouge, turns into something that feels more like a front porch gathering, only bigger, louder, and filled with the smell of red beans drifting through the air.
Though the festival is still young compared to long-running Louisiana staples like the International Rice Festival, the Louisiana Red Beans and Rice Heritage and Music Festival has already found its footing. The first gathering took place in 2024 and drew hundreds who came for the beans.
What started as a single-day celebration has grown into a weekend filled with cook-offs, live zydeco, local vendors, and families spreading out folding chairs beneath the Louisiana sky. A market lines the plaza. Kids wander between booths. If you listen closely, I’m sure you’ll hear someone insist that their grandmother’s recipe would win every prize if she were here to enter it.
There’s a car show parked nearby and plenty of room for home cooks to prove their pot holds something special. It’s not just a food festival. It feels like Louisiana doing what Louisiana does best: gathering around for some food, music, and a good time.
For an event still in its early years, the growth is noticeable. More vendors. More music. More people coming back. It’s becoming a tradition in its own right.
The Woman Behind the Festival
At the heart of the Louisiana Red Beans & Rice Heritage and Music Festival is a passionate advocate for Louisiana foodways and community pride: Tameeka Stewart. As the co-owner of Catfish on the Bayou and the Executive Director of the Louisiana Red Beans and Rice Foundation, Stewart has become one of the festival’s most important champions. Stewart partnered with Michael Foster of The Michael Foster Project, who generously used his influence to help make the festival happen.
The spark for the festival gained momentum after Louisiana formally recognized March 22 as Red Beans and Rice Day. That statewide nod to the iconic Monday meal affirmed what generations already knew, and Stewart saw an opportunity. Not just to celebrate a recipe, but a place where home cooks, musicians, artisans, and families could come together and honor a food tradition that survives not because it’s written down, but because people keep showing up for it.
What the Festival Really Celebrates
Red beans and rice have always been more than a plate of food.
It’s what shows up at second lines. It’s what simmers on Mondays while laundry turns in the background. It’s also the one you cook when you want to feel close to Louisiana — even if you’re a thousand miles away like me.
The festival doesn’t just celebrate a recipe. It’s more than that. The festival is really celebrating the people who keep the tradition alive, whether you’re washing clothes on Monday or not. This festival is celebrating you and me. Whether you grew up eating red beans and rice at a family member’s house or at your school, or discovered it later, this celebration honors those who keep this tradition alive and going.
If You Go to the Louisiana Red Beans and Rice Heritage Festival
Come hungry.
Bring a folding chair. Take your time.
Listen to the cooks explain why their beans are the best, and keep in mind that they’re all right in their own way. Wander through the vendors. Let the music pull you closer to the stage. Stay long enough to feel the shift from festival to community gathering.
The Louisiana Red Beans and Rice Heritage Festival takes something that already brings people together every Monday and stretches it into a full weekend of food, music, and shared pride.
Some traditions don’t need rescuing. They just need a pot (or a lot of people willing to share how they red bean), a place, and people wanting to gather. This festival proves that.
If you’re in the Baton Rouge area, make this your next tradition.
Like what they had to say on social media:
We aren’t just a music festival — we’re an experience. Through music, dance, food, and hands-on learning, we provide education about Louisiana, its traditions, and what truly makes our state great. From zydeco and line dancing to cultural storytelling, we celebrate the heritage that connects our communities and keeps Louisiana’s spirit alive.
For more information, visit: https://louisianaredbeansandricefest.org/
The Blue Runner Foods brand is a major presenting sponsor of the festival, and they help keep the festival free for you and me. They play a major role in keeping the tradition within reach. If you’d like to learn more about the company and its history in Louisiana, read my article Behind the Tradition: Blue Runner Foods.
One of my most popular recipes is my Red Beans and Rice with Blue Runner Red Beans. Honestly, it’s my wife’s favorite. It’s a simple way to bring a little of that festival spirit into your own kitchen.
If you’re curious about similar bean gatherings around the country, check out my guide to the best beans and rice festivals across the U.S.
And if you’ve been to the Louisiana Red Beans and Rice Heritage Festival, I’d love to hear what you thought. Leave a comment and share your experience.
HUNGRY FOR MORE? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow me on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram for all the newest recipes, interviews, and more!
Eric Olsson is the food blogger of RedBeansAndEric.com. He publishes new recipes and interviews weekly. He has developed recipes and written articles for the famous Camellia brand in New Orleans, Louisiana. He has been mentioned in Louisiana Cookin‘ magazine and has had recipes featured in Taste of Home magazine – with his Creole Turkey recipe being runner up in their annual Thanksgiving recipe contest. He lives outside of Detroit, Michigan, with his wife and four children.
Leave a Reply