Official Rules And Regulations For 2026 Competitors
The Event
The Louisiana Forest Festival Crawfish Cook-off is a charitable event
sponsored by The Louisiana Forest Festival on the behalf of the seniors of Winn Parish. The purpose is to raise funds for our scholarship program
while providing an entertaining event for all to enjoy and a good-natured
competition for those in the community who wish to prove they have the
best boiled crawfish.
Eligibility Requirements To Field A Team
- Each team will be limited to a maximum of 4 persons, 18 years of age or
older. Each member of the team is encouraged to wear identical
t-shirts to identify each member of a team. Business sponsors are welcomed. The captain of each team that qualifies for the contest will be provided up to 4 wristbands. These wristbands must be worn and will allow team members entry onto the fair grounds and into the
serving areas and restricted boiling areas.
Entry Requirements For Contestants
- Each team will donate its boiled crawfish, corn, potatoes, sausage and time
to The Louisiana Forest Festival. All food items will be provided by the festival prior to cook time. The aforementioned just means that you can't pack it up and leave with it after cooking.
- Check with your accountant to verify that your donation is tax deductible. Should your business sponsor need a letter, we will provide that.
- Each team shall boil a minimum of 100 pounds of live crawfish for the competition on the day of the contest in their assigned boiling area. A minimum of 10 lbs. of sausage, 10 lbs. of corn, and 10 lbs. of potatoes shall also be provided to each team if they wish to compete in these categories. Competition in any category other than crawfish is strictly optional. All crawfish, sausage, corn. potatoes and misc. must be handled in a sanitary manner and boiled on the day of the contest in the team’s designated areas.
- A fully completed entry form and $100 payment must be submitted by April 16, 2026 to guarantee entry into the competition. This payment will be used
toward the scholarship fund, so that we may assist more seniors in the community.
- Limited to 8 teams.
Boiling Requirements For Contestants
- The Louisiana Forest Festival will assign boiling locations.
- All team serving areas must have a minimum of 50 lbs. of boiled crawfish
delivered to serving areas and available to the general public for sampling
by 4:00 pm on the day of the contest.
- Crawfish, corn, potatoes, sausage and other items must be available for
judging by 4:00 pm on the evening of the competition.
All boiling must be completed by 6 pm and delivered to serving areas by
6:30 pm. Team members and associates shall remain in their serving areas
distributing crawfish to the general public until their supply of crawfish is
depleted.
- Wrist bands will be provided to paying consumers.
- Each team is responsible for maintaining clean and safe boiling and serving
areas. Boiling areas and serving areas will be designated with a number for
each team. These numbers must be attached to the booths and displayed
at all times.
- Each team is responsible for its own equipment and utensils to both boil
and serve its crawfish to the public. Examples of utensils and equipment include, but are not limited to, boiling pots, boiling baskets, ice chests, ice, burners, knives, chopping boards, tables, chairs, garbage bags, etc.
Propane tanks or fuel tanks shall be in good working order and within code as per federal and state standards and regulations.
- Each team is responsible for transporting its own equipment, supplies,
tables, etc. Each team must have a PORTABLE FIRE EXTINGUISHER at
its boiling site. No portable tents of any kind can be erected in front or to
the side of a team’s assigned boiling location. Portable tents can be placed
behind an assigned boiling location provided it is within the designated
barricaded area.
- Parking will be limited. Teams will be allowed to bring their vehicles into the
parking area on Friday the day before the event between the designated
hours. After 5:00 pm on the Friday before the event, equipment will have to
be hand carried into the boiling areas. No vehicles may enter the grounds
on Saturday the day of the event!
- No team will be allowed to have outside music in their booth including,
but not limited to, dj equipment, portable speaker systems or radios.
- Measures have been made to ensure all teams will hear the music
provided by the originators of the competition. No exceptions will be made.
- Competition officials will supply water for each boiling team area. No electrical power will be supplied. Water access will be shared between teams so cooperation and good sportsmanship is expected and encouraged. Officials will only supply serving containers for each team's serving area.
- Officials encourage each team to display a reasonably sized banner or logo
that identifies their team and sponsors and decorate their booths
accordingly.
- Teams will be allowed to bring in alcoholic beverages for consumption by
their teams only. No glass bottles are permitted on the fairgrounds at any
time! Ice chests containing alcoholic beverages will only be allowed in the
restricted boiling areas. For liability reasons, teams will be prohibited from
distributing beer or other alcoholic beverages to the general public. There
will be reasonably priced beer and drink concessions available to the
general public.
- The Louisiana Forest Festival and its competition officials reserve the
right to remove anyone from the fairgrounds for any reason and to revise
these rules and regulations prior to the commencement of the competition
to adjust for unforeseen circumstances.
Judging Requirements
- A panel selected by event organizers will conduct the judging.
Each team captain will be given a container with an information slip
attached and an envelope. Additional containers and envelopes will be
given if a team has entered the corn, potato, sausage or misc. competition.
Each captain must:
1. Fill out the identification slip provided with the container(s). The
identification slip must only contain the name of the cooking team and
booth number.
2. Place the identification slip(s) in the envelope(s). The envelope(s)
and container(s) shall be void of any markings
3. Fill the container to the top with boiled crawfish. If participating in the
corn, potato, sausage or misc. Competition, fill up the additional
containers with corn, potato, sausage or misc.
4. Deliver the said container(s) and envelope(s) to the designated
collection area when called for by officials. Awards will be given for
first through fifth place in each of the five categories.
- This is a nonprofit event designed to benefit The Louisiana Forest Festival scholarship fund. All decisions by judges are final. Failure to follow these rules will result in disqualification with no refund of team registration fee or other fees incurred.
A representative from each team is welcome to observe the judging
process if desired. These team representatives are only there for
observation purposes and not allowed to interfere with the judging process
at any time.
Competition Official Contact Information
- All questions concerning The Louisiana Forest Festival Crawfish Cook-off will be directed to: louisianaforestfestival@gmail.com.
- All though security will be provided, the Louisiana Forest Festival is not responsible for any theft or damaged to property/product.
- Water, soft drinks, and alcoholic beverages will only be sold by the Louisiana Forest Festival Board and The Big Easy.
- Refunds will not be issued for no-shows.
- PLEASE PRINT THIS FOR YOUR RECORDS AND FOR REFERENCE TO RULES.