Mississippi Monday | GumboFest!

Food in the South is a huge part of our culture, and in Mississippi we have an amazing blend of southern soul food and creole cajun influences. Shrimp and grits, tamales and gumbo are a few of our prized cuisines and the question, as it is with any good recipe, is who's is the best!? MK Sharpe, our Thimblepress® Inventory and Assembly Team Manager, attended Jackson's annual GumboFest this past weekend to taste-test and assess for herself, and we're happy to have her share her experience here today on the blog... GuestContributorMK

GumboFest took place this past weekend at Smith Park in downtown Jackson, MS. Cooking teams from all over created their best gumbo recipes and presented them to a team of judges to determine the "International Gumbo Festival Champion"! This year, Bill's Creole and Steak Depot was the Grand Champion. However, my personal favorite team was the Roux The Hell are We team, because their name is a play on my alma maters football team cheer. :) (Incase you missed it, read last week's Mississippi Monday post HERE about our serious dedication to and love for football season here in MS)

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Each tent/cooking team provided free samples served in small cups with a spoon. Seafood gumbo and Chicken and Sausage gumbo were offered. You have to get there early though, because when they run out... they run out!

The event began at 11am and ran until 7pm, with live music throughout the day. A handful of local artisans were out selling crafts and clothing. Beer was also available for purchase, to help cool your mouth after eating so much spicy gumbo and to cool you off in this Mississippi heat! CLICK AN IMAGE BELOW TO ENLARGE:

Need a reason to attend besides amazing eats and music? The festival benefits the Harold T. and Hal White Memorial Scholarship Fund, which provides a scholarship each year to a student in the Hinds Community College hospitality management program. Didn't make it out this year? Keep up with the GumboFest page HERE or stay up to date on all published Jackson events through the Jackson Free Press calendar HERE so you'll never miss a beat!

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