The Sixth Annual Crawfish Mambo took place on Saturday, May 13 on the University of New Orleans campus, featuring competitions in the arts of boiling as well as eating Louisiana’s favorite shellfish.
More than 45 teams turned up to make a run for the “Best of Boil” title and a $1,000 prize. This year’s winner was Dhose Bodacious Crawfish from DBC Bar & Grill, with a batch that the judges deemed “well-spiced and nicely seasoned” and “would serve these at my crawfish boil.” Runner-ups were Our Pot Burleth Over and Rouga Rou Mudbugz.
The 2017 novelty was Peel N’ Eat Crawfish Competition, which awarded another $1,000 prize to who could eat the most crawfish in ten minutes. Christina Handy from Metairie took the prize and the title by eating 2.51 pounds in that time.
The festival also awarded the Jefferson Financial team and their ribs for “Best Sides,” Geaux Creole representing the Law Offices of Andrew Schwing was named “Crowd Favorite,” and The Good, the Bad and the Boil, won “Best Decorated Booth.”
The crawfish-flavored afternoon was organized by the New Orleans International Alumni Association and seasoned with music from New Orleans’ own Big Sam’s Funky Nation, Dash Rip Rock and more.