Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival: All You Need to Know

Family friendly Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival held annually during the second week of April is Louisiana's largest free festival and is second to only Mardi Gras. It is held in the month of April and this year it is supposed to roll out the red carpet to more than 300,000 people. Strawberry festivals are held in many towns of North America.

All the towns have different traditions and events that are unique to their festival. They are celebrated with as much glamour and thrill as they were years before. The festival started in 1972 as a small block party with a baseball game, parade and some small community events. More than 100,000 people participate in the downtown parade even now. The Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival Board committee and other volunteers are interested. All the major decisions of the festival are taken by 16 voting board members. The official grounds for the festival include Memorial Park and first two blocks of the North 6th street. All the strawberry rich goodness is sold by nonprofit groups who use the funds to keep the work going forward. There are chocolate covered strawberries, strawberry cheesecake, strawberries and cream, strawberry eating contests, egg tosses, strawberry auctions and lots of other things to do. There is so much to explore and have fun.

By: Neha Maheshwari

Content: http://blog.nola.com/ponchatoulatimes/2008/04/history_of_the_strawberry_fest.html