Another gumbo season closed out this weekend as the World Championship Gumbo Cookoff brought thousands to downtown New Iberia, where more than 70 teams competed in several categories for a chance to win the coveted Teche Area title of “Best Gumbo.”

Despite ongoing construction to expand the Steamboat Warehouse Pavilion, Bouligny Plaza was filled to the brim with rows of booths featuring teams from Iberia Parish, Acadiana and beyond who spent Sunday cooking up their best gumbo recipes and serving to the thousands of people who walked through the festival. 

“We’ve been here all day,” Cheryl Landry, a team member working along the row on Fulton Street who was busy serving up dishes to those turning in their tickets. 

Despite the large number of teams, this year’s winners included some very familiar faces for the cookoff. 

In the Amateur Chicken and Sausage category, Direct Services pulled off the win with Berard Transportation coming in second place and Iberia Rental Services coming in third. 

The team has previously won in the category in 2019, 2021, 2023 and now 2024, with a recipe that Patrick Valls Jr. said was dished up to cater to the palette of those judging the competition. 

“We’ve been doing this for 10 years and it’s a family affair,” Valls, whose father is the owner of Direct Services, said. “We do this to get together and have a good time.”

Other winners included Global Riser in the Amateur Melange category, Team Tabasco in the Professional Chicken and Sausage Category and Lydia Food Store in the Professional Seafood category. 

Apart from the endless gumbo, Saturday featured the Cajun FoodFest where a variety of non-gumbo dishes were drawn up. Cajun Swamp Shark grabbed first place in the Red Beans category and Peltier Engine finished first in the Youth Gumbo Cookoff. 

2024 Gumbo Cookoff Winners: 

Youth Cookoff

1st Peltier Engine

2nd Cypress Bayou, Team B

3rd Big D’s Cooking Team

Red Beans

1st Cajun Swamp Shark

2nd Acadiana Hydraulic Works

3rd Unrouxly Krew

Booth-Showmanship

1st Cypress Bayou Casino

2nd Fuller Glass Company

3rd Metal Shark

Booth-Decorations

1st Global Riser

2nd Sixteen Cracklins

3rd Brown & Brown

Booth-Uniqueness

1st Jeff Guidry

2nd Highland Baptist Church

3rd Iberia 4-H

Booth-Humorous 

1st Maison Teche Nursing Home

2nd Supreme Services

3rd Garden View Assisted Living

Amateur Chicken and Sausage

1st Direct Services

2nd Berard Transportation

3rd Iberia Rental Services

Amateur Melange

1st Global Riser

2nd Cajun Swamp Shack

3rd Kaleb Freyou Agency

Amateur Seafood

1st Super One Foods

2nd Peltier Engine Services

3rd Southern Force Heating and Cooling

Professional Melange

1st Supreme Services

2nd Acadiana Hydraulic Works

3rd Cypress Bayou Casino

Professional Seafood

1st Lydia Food Store

2nd Stabil Drill/Axis Newco

3rd Team Tabasco

Professional Chicken and Sausage

1st Team Tabasco

Lydia Food Store

Team Thibodeaux