After a two-year hiatus, the annual Strawberry Festival is returning to Ponchatoula. 

The 50th annual Strawberry Festival will be held on April 8-10 and is free upon entry. 

Donald Lanier, a festival board member of 32 years from Ponchatoula, said, “I am looking forward to people and getting back to normal from COVID-19.”

The festival starts Friday and goes into Saturday which starts off with a parade rolling at 9:30 a.m. 

Lainer said there will be 50 non-profit booths at the festival which mostly consist of fraternities and sororities. 

Ross Chauvin, a senior communication and media studies major with a focus in sports communication, said, “My fraternity, Kappa Sigma, sets up a booth every year at the festival and we sell fried pork skins and chargrilled oysters. Over 30 guys listening to music, making food and having a good time all day made it one of my favorite memories as a Kappa Sigma.”

Ethan Mauterer, a junior kinesiology major, is also in Kappa Sigma and will be running the booth during the festival where they are selling oysters and cracklins. 

Mauterer has been going to the Strawberry Festival since he was five years old. He said it is always a great time and his favorite part is getting everyone together. 

Zachary Poche, a junior history major, said that his favorite part of the festival is the band. 

“They had a lot of live music throughout the day and you could hear it from across the festival,” Poche said.

The festival is also known for its music and strawberry-themed foods and drinks. Some traditional favorites are the strawberry daiquiri and strawberry shortcake. 

When Mauterer worked at Berry Town during the festival, he said they sold at least 50-100 strawberry daiquiris every day. 

For food, Poche said the strawberry shortcake was his favorite. “The strawberry shortcake was really good and was made with fresh Ponchatoula strawberries.” 

“I look forward to the food because they always have something good,” Poche added.

Chauvin said he highly recommends attending to enjoy the festival’s entertainment and excitement. 

“It’s one of the biggest festivals I’ve been to, it always has a great turnout and it’s always a fun weekend for everyone,” he said. 

Come out to the Strawberry Festival in Ponchatoula to have a berry good time.