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Creole Tomato Festival: A Quirky New Orleans Tradition

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*Updated 2019

Celebrating a Local Delicacy

Grown in Plaquemines Parish, juicy Creole tomatoes are a South Louisiana delicacy found in many of the region's most famous dishes. Fry them or slice them when they are ripe, Creole tomatoes are the perfect summertime snack or side to any meal. In true New Orleans fashion, there is an entire festival dedicated to this special fruit: the Creole Tomato Festival!

This Creole Tomato Festival, which takes place every year, is held in the historic French Market. This year’s festival will take place June 8 -9. Festival hours are 10:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. Admission is FREE and open to the public.

Come for the food, stay for the fun

The Creole Tomato Festival, designed purely to hail this unique Louisiana vegetable, has been celebrated for over 30 years. The creole tomato is so highly valued because it is a local staple that adds so much flare to so many local recipes. You will find both locals and visitors frequenting this, somewhat eccentric, event. Here you will find life-sized tomatoes strolling the grounds handing out tomato shaped fans, and the first tomatoes of the season will be auctioned off to local chefs.

Festival goers can get their hands on a plentitude of fresh produce while sipping fresh Bloody Marys, sampling a plethora of tomato-based dishes or even competing in a tomato-eating contest!

Along with the regular Farmers Market vendors, Ben & Ben Becnel's will sell tomatoes and produce near the Louisiana Cookin' Culinary Stage at Governor Nicholls. The festival uses Becnel's tomatoes for the Creole Tomato Eating Contest and for the festival cooking demonstrations.

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