Got graton? The deep-fried, crunchy pork skin and fat, better known as cracklins, gets a well-deserved place in the spotlight during the four-day Port Barre Cracklin Festival, November 12—15. Pork rind’s bigger, tastier sibling, cracklin is the classic Cajun snack, and there’s no better time to taste them than fresh from a black iron pot.
“It started off in 1985,” recalled Port Barre Lions Club member Vee Pelafigue. “Several of the Lions’ members were sitting around having beer and eating cracklins, and they decided to have a festival.” That idea quickly blossomed from a simple street fair into a full-fledged festival, complete with live music, carnival rides, arts and crafts booths, and all sorts of Louisiana culinary delights. In tribute to those early members, this year’s event T-shirt depicts a silhouette of four friends gathered around a table piled high with cracklins.
The festival gets underway with a Thursday family night prior to the official opening ceremony at 5 pm Friday. New for 2026 is Saturday’s Courir de Cracklin, a 5K and 1-mile fun run, with the traditional Cracklin Festival Parade to follow. Save Sunday for the hotly contested cracklin cookoff, a live auction, and crowning of 2026’s Cracklin Festival royalty. All weekend, festivalgoers are treated to live music, courtesy of Wayne Toups & Zydecajun, Adam Leger, Jamie Bergeron & the Kickin’ Cajuns, Keith Frank & the Soileau Zydeco Band, and more.
It goes without saying that the Cracklin Festival attracts top talent to prepare the namesake treat. Danny Ardoin, vice president of both the Cracklin Festival and the Louisiana Association of Fairs and Festivals, explained the arduous process for making the perfect cracklins.
“It’s not something that happens fast. It actually takes, depending on the weather, from four to six hours to do it,” said Ardoin. “It’s low heat and take your time and watch it. When you feel like they are at the right point, you have to take them out and let them sit for an hour. The cooler they get, the better.
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Photo courtesy of St. Landry Parish Tourist Commission
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Photo courtesy of St. Landry Parish Tourist Commission
Then it’s All About the Seasoning
“The key to good cracklins is you get them to pop,” continued Ardoin. “You take your oil rendered by the cracklins and get it up to 400 degrees. Then you put the cracklins back in that hot oil and get the skin to blister. You have to listen, and you’ll hear them popping like popcorn. Then it’s all about the seasoning. I like something salty but also a little sugar and enough spice. And season them a lot. If it’s just a little bit, you won’t even taste it.”
Ardoin cooks cracklins for the Lions Club all year long, and welcomes other cooks to compete in the festival competition. “We usually have five to six vendors who come in and cook for the festival. The cook-off is mostly these vendors, but we do allow others to come in Sunday morning and compete.”
The Cracklin Festival is the primary fundraiser for the Port Barre Lions Club. Proceeds support the Louisiana Lions Eye Foundation, the Louisiana Lions Camp, and other local charitable causes. To learn more, visit the Port Barre Cracklin Festival at St Landry’s Cajun Travel.
