The gumbo gods smiled down on New Iberia Saturday as the World Championship Gumbo Cookoff kicked off with surprisingly chilly weather.

The annual festival, which is billed as the largest in Iberia Parish, pits dozens of teams against each other in a cookoff in several categories. The cookoff is estimated to attract 20,000 people annually and have a local economic impact of more than $2 million.

The theme for this year’s cookoff was “Lights, Cameras, GUMBO,” a nod to the film industry’s local involvement in Iberia Parish.

Although the main event will be today, Saturday saw the Meanest Beans and Cajun Creole Foodfest kick off at 10 a.m., followed by the Youth Gumbo Cookoff that started at 3 p.m.

The Meanest Beans category pits teams making red beans and rice against each other, while the Cajun Creole Foodfest has teams showcasing their culinary skills by cooking any dish of their choosing.

Red beans and rice, stuffed potatoes and a variety of other local staples were doled out by vendors who set up in the Bouligny Plaza parking lot.

Those attending the event were able to sample from all the vendors as part of the cookoff, and all seemed to be loving it.

“It’s really good,” Jessa Viator said. “The weather is so good and the food is really good.”

Apart from the food, a kids zone and 5K Roux Run also were on the agenda Saturday, as well as several musical performances including Chubby Carrier, Three37 and L.A. Roxx.

Cooking demonstrations and food tasting were present at Victor’s Cafeteria as well as a train traveling down Main Street for the kids.

A recent development for the cookoff is the Gumbotron big screen television, which featured live footage and footage on the big screen.

The cookoff continues today with the main event. Gumbo will be served starting at 11 a.m. and Geno Delafose will be taking the stage at 10 a.m. An award ceremony doling trophies for the variety of categories will take place underneath the Steamboat Warehouse Pavilion at 3:30 p.m.