Beignet Fest returning to City Park this fall

NEW ORLEANS (NOLA WEEKEND) - Beignet Fest, the annual festival featuring creative and traditional beignet creations, plans to return this fall festival season after a two-year absence.

Organizers announced Beignet Fest will head back to the festival grounds at New Orleans City Park on Sept. 24.

Now returning for its fifth year, festival organizers say some changes are coming for Beignet Fest.

“We are putting some incredible plans in place,” Sherwood Collins, festival founder and executive director, said in a release. “We will have two different food areas this year to accommodate a growing list of food vendors. We’re also adding a second stage in our Kids Village, which Children’s Hospital will help program for us. Beignet Fest is going to be bigger and stronger than ever before.”

As another new addition this year, PJ’s Coffee will join the festival as its official coffee vendor.

The festival also serves as a fundraiser with proceeds benefiting community programs that serve children with autism and related developmental differences. Formerly known as the Tres Doux Foundation, the festival changes the name of its charitable arm to the Beignet Fest Foundation, organizers announced. This year, Children’s Hospital has also signed on as a title sponsor.

The 2022 Beignet Fest will take place from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Organizers say food vendors, the musical line up and other festival details will be announced later this summer.

Beignet Fest began in 2016 and quickly became a popular event in the fall festival lineup in Louisiana, garnering more than 10,000 attendees all in one day to sample and celebrate dozens of different beignet dishes along with live, local music, an artist market, and an inclusive Kids Village for children of all abilities in keeping with its mission to raise awareness and support for children with autism and related special needs.

The festival was canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and was replaced with “Beignet Fest at Their Place,” a socially-distant food vendor pop-up event. Efforts to host the festival in 2021 were unsuccessful after the Delta variant surge forced organizers to cancel.

Admission tickets for Beignet Fest will go on sale this summer. Advanced adult tickets will be $20 and children 12 and under will be free with a paid adult. More information can be found at www.beignetfest.com.

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