October is probably the city’s biggest festival month in terms of the number of events. While spring may host the largest festivals, the fall’s great weather kicks out the jams for the sheer numbers of festivals celebrating barbecue, blues, Gretna Heritage, film, seafood, and of course, music.

This weekend’s offering, from Friday October 11 through Sunday October 13, is the free Louisiana Seafood Festival. The festival takes place at the new City Park Festival Grounds, the site of the Hogs For The Cause event earlier this year.

The annual celebration of Louisiana’s cornucopia of seafood will have the park fairgrounds jumping for three days with more than two dozen New Orleans musicians, top chefs and local libations. Whether you like your crawfish spicy and your funk on fire, or your oysters broiled with a side of roots rock, the Louisiana Seafood Festival (LSF) has it all on the menu.

Rising buzz band Sweet Crude kicks off the festival on Friday at 11 a.m. with their unique blend of Cajun indie-pop, setting the stage for nine hours of some of Louisiana’s finest from Christian Serpas (12:15 p.m.) and Dave Jordan (1:30 p.m.) to Johnny Sketch and the Dirty Notes (7:30 p.m.) and the Royal Southern Brotherhood featuring Cyril Neville (4:30 p.m.). New music should be on deck at 3 p.m. from the Wild Magnolias, who just released their latest recording with Chief Bo Dollis Jr, New Kind of Funk. One of Friday’s highlights is sure to be the double-header of Devon Allman’s set with Mike Zito followed by a revival of Devon’s father’s musical legacy, the Allman Brothers Band.

Saturday’s line-up is on jam, and we don’t mean jelly, well – unless of course we’re talking about high-energy funky blues of the Mo’ Jelly Band’s lunch-time groove at noon. The ladies of New Orleans roots rock shine Saturday when Mia Borders and Amanda Shaw hit the Seafood Fest stage, just before the Honey Island Swamp Band and Sister Hazel close out day two of the fest.

If straight-up rock ‘n’ roll is your flavor, then claiming a spot in the park on Sunday by  noon should be your plan for the Creole String Beans and longtime crowd-pleasers, Better Than Ezra.  John Gros’ new band will funk it up at 4:30 p.m., probably just before you’re too full from three days of good eating. Blues belter Luther Kent brings the tempo down for the festival finale at 5:45 p.m. with Paul Varisco and the Milestones.

Deciding on which bands to catch at the Seafood Fest is pretty much overshadowed by deciding what to eat. Nearly 40 of the city’s most popular restaurants and pop-ups will serve just about every local variety of shrimp, crawfish, oysters, catfish, tuna, and even alligator imaginable.  The rockstar chefs from a dozen of those kitchens will also host live cooking demos from 2 p.m. – 7 p.m. Friday, 12 p.m. – 6 p.m. Saturday, and 12 p.m. – 2 p.m. Sunday. Resident seafood masters such as John Besh (August, Borgne, Luke), Ralph Pausina (Drago’s) and Anthony Scanio (Emeril’s) will be on-site in the LSF pavilion for some culinary face time. The Louisiana Children’s Museum will host a kids’ pavilion too.

Read the confirmed restaurants (at press time) offerings below, and weep. You won’t be able to eat it all!

• Acme Oyster House: Fried Shrimp Poboy

• Andrea’s Restaurant: Oyster Cake, Crabmeat Ravioli, Louisiana Gulf Shrimp

• Antoine’s: Oysters & Scallops with Bowtie Pasta, Shrimp & Crawfish Bread, Baked Alaska

• Bacchus Bistro: Shrimp Boudin-Stuffed Chicken, Shrimp & Artichoke Dip. Chocolate Bread Pudding with Raspberry Caramel Sauce

• Barcadia: Korean Shrimp Tavcos, Fried PB&J Sandwiches

• Boomtown Casino: Abita BBQ Louisiana Shrimp Wrap, Blackened Alligator Tacos

• Borgne: Des Allemands Catfish Sliders with Greet Tomato Chow Chow, Oyster Almondine

• Bourbon House: Bourbon BBQ Shrimp Poboy

• Café Giovanni: Shrimp Remoulade Roll, White Beans with Shrimp Over Rice, Oyster & Artichoke Soup

• Café Hope/Café Reconcile: Louisiana Blue Crab Crabcakes, Watermelon Lemonade

• Carnaval Brazilian Street Food: Pastel de Crawfish/Crawfish Pie, Pizza Pastel

• Crepes a la Carte: Shrimp & Tasso Crepes, Banana & Nutella Crepes, Nutella Crepes

• Drago’s Seafood Restaurant: Charbroiled Oysters, Fried Alligator Nuggets, Hot Brownie a la Mode

• Ernst Café: Crawfish Nachos, Seafood Puff Pastry, Strawberry Puff Pastry

• Food Drunk: Crab & Crawfish Mac ‘n’ Cheese

• Galatoire’s Restaurant: Fried Shrimp BLT Poboy with Meuniere Sauce, Shrimp Remoulade

• Grand Isle Restaurant: Shrimp Caminada Poboy, Shrimp & Grits

• Jack Dempsey’s Restaurant: Stuffed Crab & Baked Macaroni, Rried Shrimp Remoulade Poboy, Crawfish Johnnie

• Jacques-Imo’s Café: Shrimp & Alligator Sausage Cheesecake, Slow-Roasted Duck Poboy, Oyster Dressing-Stuffed Mushrooms

• Katie’s Restaurant: The Legend Poboy, The Shrimpy St. Louis Poboy

• LaDelyo’s Creole Catering: Fried Catfish & French Fries, Chicken Sausage & Tomato Stew over Rice, Crawfish Fried Rice

• LCD Catering: Louisiana Shrimp & Crawfish Etouffee, Fried Catfish with Cajun Rice & Sauteed Corn, Corn & Crab Soup

• Little Tokyo: Hibachi Rice with Shrimp, Crawfish Roll, Soft Shell Crab Roll, Fried Shrimp Springs Roll

• Love at First Bite/Walker’s BBQ: Cochon de Lait Poboy, Crawfish Pasta

• Mr. B’s Bistro: Bacon-Wrapped Shrimp & Grits, Bread Pudding with Whiskey Sauce, Warm Yellowfin Tuna Salad

• Mr. Mudbug Catering: Shrimp & Crab Pasta, Red Beans & Rice

• New Orleans Original Sno-balls

• The Original New Orleans Poboys: Shrimp & Sausage Jambalaya, Hot Sausage Poboy, Who Dat Shrimp Poboy

• Oceana Grill: Oysters Rockefeller Poboy, Soft Shell Crab Poboy

• Pier 424: Sweet & Spicy Shrimp, Jambalaya Pasta

• Red Fish Grill: BBQ Oyster Poboy, Alligator Sausage & Seafood Gumbalaya

• Remoulade: Cajun Shrimp Eggrolls, Shrimp Remoulade Soft Tacos

• Royal House Restaurant & Oyster Bar: Oyster Tacos, Fish Beignets, Oyster Pasta

• Saltwater Grill: Alligator on a Stick, Crawfish & Spinach Boat, Crab Cake Salad with Remoulade Sauce

• Seither’s Seafood: Kung Fu Tuna, Blackaened Shrimp & Avocado Poboy, Shrimp & Artichoke Pasta Salad

• Superior Seafood & Oyster Bar: Pulled Pork Sliders, Shrimp Pasta Vieux Carre

• TJ Gourmet: Crawfish Bread, Alligator Sausage Kabob with Zydeco Sauce, Mango Sorbet with Rum Sauce

• Woody’s Fish Tacos: Blackened Fish Tacos, Sauteed Shrimp Tacos, Veggie Black Bean Tacos, Alligator & Pork Burrito

Complete schedule and more info:  www.louisianaseafoodfestival.com