Photo by Elsa Hahne.

Crawfish Mambo reveals details, adds new crawfish-eating competition

New Orleans’ largest crawfish cook-off, the Crawfish Mambo, will return to UNO’s Lakefront campus for its sixth annual incarnation on Saturday, May 13.

Over 50 four-member teams will compete for $1,000 during the competition and festival, which will also offer all-you-can-eat-crawfish for the price of admission. A panel of celebrity judges will determine the winner of the cook-off, while the festivalgoers themselves will choose a crowd favorite.

Yet the cook-off isn’t the only crawfish competition scheduled for the Crawfish Mambo. Unlike last year, the 2017 festival will not include Major League Eating’s official World Crawfish Eating Championship (Russell Callais of Marrero, LA scored a first place victory after eating 2.69 pounds of crawfish meat in under 10 minutes in 2016). However, the event will host its first-ever Crawfish Peel N’ Eat Competition, a brand new—but very similar—battle of stomachs that will find competitive eaters from the New Orleans area and beyond vying for $1,000 in prize money.

Of course, a full day of local live music be in store for anyone at the festival, though the lineup has not yet been revealed. Last year’s party featured sets Rockin’ Dopsie & The Zydeco Twisters, The Bucktown All-Stars, Big Sam’s Funky Nation and New Breed Brass Band.

Tickets for the Crawfish Mambo are now on sale.