The Louisiana Street Food Festival

Cajun food. Tacos. Hawaiian eats. Hot donuts. Food truck after food truck stretching down River Road in downtown Baton Rouge, their offerings wafting into the January morning—if you've just finished The Louisiana Marathon's 5K or Quarter-Marathon, you might be forgiven for thinking you're the victim of an exertion-induced mirage. (Hey, if it happened to Wile E. Coyote five thousand times, it could happen to you once.) But no, this year's finish festival, on Saturday, January 13, is doubling as the first-ever Louisiana Street Food Festival, drawing cuisine from throughout the state to one location for six hours of nirvana. (And psst, you don't have to compete to chow down. Though it might allow you to justify one more donut.)

Barrie Schwartz is the woman to thank. Founder of My House Social in New Orleans, Schwartz has, since 2012, made it her mission to do away with whitebread catering menus at Louisiana events. Instead, for pop-ups, corporate events, weddings, and other major to-dos, Schwartz and her team tap into the area's extensive culinary talent to craft inspired spreads perfectly suited to the client's tastes. Mostly, that involves food trucks, where a lower overhead encourages enterprising chefs to play around. "I’m really into small business," said Schwartz. "Food trucks are a neat, creative way to start a food business as opposed to a restaurant." 

Awarded a $18,000 grant from WeWork, a coworking space, earlier this year, Schwartz quickly put the funds toward her dream of staging a statewide street food festival. Baton Rouge was an easy choice for the location. My House Social already puts on regular food truck roundups at Tin Roof Brewing Company. "I knew I wanted to do it here because it's the capital," said Schwartz, who coordinated with Heather Day of The Red Cake Event Planning (along with local creative agency ThreeSixtyEight) to bring her food-truck fantasy specifically to the Louisiana Marathon weekend. "New Orleans is oversaturated, and [Baton Rouge] is geographically easier for people to reach from Lafayette, Lake Charles, or Shreveport."

There'll be no question of a crowd on January 13. Thirty thousand people from around the country are expected to lace up for the marathon's various events (the Full and Half are both on Sunday), whose creative, flat courses have been a big attraction for competitive runners since the marathon's inception in 2012. It's a grand opportunity to dazzle out-of-towners with Louisiana culture, too. Lafayette band The Lost Bayou Ramblers will strike up a set to accompany the foodie palooza, whose truck roster includes Ono's Traditional Hawaiian Cuisine out of Shreveport, Old School Eats of Slidell, Mr. Ronnie's Hot Donuts of Baton Rouge, and Grilling Shilling BBQ of New Orleans. Other bites will come from Fete au Fete (New Orleans, and soon to be at Baton Rouge's White Star Market), The Sloppy Taco (Lake Charles), Rice N Gravy (Port Allen), Baton Rouge's Chef Ryan Andre (who's left City Pork but is rumored to be landing somewhere thrilling soon) teaming up with The Cajun Spoon, and even 2017 Small Town Chef Dustie Latiolais, with Cochon Cannery (Breaux Bridge). And that's just the tip of the iceberg lettuce. Find the full list of participating trucks here. "We're bringing together diverse people with diverse food trucks," said Schwartz. "You can come with a big group of friends—and everyone gets what they want."

11 am–5 pm along River Road by the USS Kidd. The Lost Bayou Ramblers will play from 1 pm–3 pm. Visit louisianastreetfoodfestival.com for a full list of chefs and trucks. No cover charge to enter the festival. Proceeds benefit Louisiana Runs, an organization dedicated to promoting active and healthy lifestyles statewide.