City of Gulfport announces Gumbo Festival coming to the Coast
The City of Gulfport held a press conference today to announce a new festival coming to the Coast that will bring even more tourists to the area.
Gumbo Festival is coming to the City of Gulfport and to celebrate the good news, a celebration took place at Centennial Plaza. The event will bring family, food, and fun together. Gulfport Mayor Billy Hewes said, “We are always looking for ways to enhance the tourism experience here and we have a lot of festivals that surround seafood, so why not have a Gumbo Festival.”
The festival will feature live entertainment with Grammy winner Cedric Burnside as the headliner, Amanda Shaw, and more. There will be fun for the whole family with regional art vendors, kid activities, food trucks, and lots of gumbo. Gulfport Main Street Association President Jennifer Lee said, “We are excited to be on board. Couldn’t be happier about the creation of this event. I think that it’s going to be something great to bring all of the communities together.”
During Gumbo Festival, there will be a ‘Stir Da Roux’ Gumbo Cookoff. Municipality and county official teams will face off in a cooking competition to earn bragging rights for the best gumbo. Mayor Hewes said, “It’s for the community to come out and celebrate from across the Coast. We talk about one Coast being a cultural gumbo with all our amenities and natural resources and people and opportunity and so why not have this type of festival surrounding gumbo and our seafood heritage that brings it all together.”
The festival has been in the works for a while and this event will be another way to bring more tourists to the City of Gulfport and surrounding areas. “It’s been a long time coming and I think it’s going to be great for all the communities and we are excited about the entertainment.”
The Gumbo Fest will take place Saturday, November 19th from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Centennial Plaza.
