Oh, What a Weekend!

Berry best fest shatters records and expectations
  • The Strawberry Festival’s brilliant nocturnal glow (Photo Courtesy of Jody Borne)
    The Strawberry Festival’s brilliant nocturnal glow (Photo Courtesy of Jody Borne)
  • 2024 Strawberry King and Queen toast at the judges’ stage during the Strawberry parade (Photo Courtesy of Jody Borne)
    2024 Strawberry King and Queen toast at the judges’ stage during the Strawberry parade (Photo Courtesy of Jody Borne)
  • From left to right: King Donald Lanier, Queen Lauren van Mullem, Blossom Rhonda Landry Poche, Grand Marshal Charlie Ciolino, and Chairman Lou Ann Ragan LeBlanc (Photo Courtesy of Jody Borne)
    From left to right: King Donald Lanier, Queen Lauren van Mullem, Blossom Rhonda Landry Poche, Grand Marshal Charlie Ciolino, and Chairman Lou Ann Ragan LeBlanc (Photo Courtesy of Jody Borne)
  • Crowds on the festival grounds (Photo Courtesy of Jody Borne)
    Crowds on the festival grounds (Photo Courtesy of Jody Borne)
  • An aerial view down 6th Street (Photo Courtesy of Jody Borne)
    An aerial view down 6th Street (Photo Courtesy of Jody Borne)
  • Festival-goers enjoying the music of the Phunky Monkeys (Photo Courtesy of Jody Borne)
    Festival-goers enjoying the music of the Phunky Monkeys (Photo Courtesy of Jody Borne)
    Luck was a lady last weekend, and her name was Mother Nature. Custom ordered, the weather could not have been better, and crowds flocked to the three-day festival to enjoy the food, the fun, and the Ponchatoula sun.Following heavy rains last Wednesday and forecasts for a picture-perfect weekend, anticipation started swelling on Thursday, as the landscape and even the skyscape of Berrytow...

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