by Jeanni Ritchie
I love Natchitoches meat pies!
My mother-in-law, a Chopin native, attempted to teach me to make them from scratch when I was 20. It did not go well. It’s a science, rolling out the perfect dough then filling it with the perfectly seasoned meat mixture before dropping it in the oil at just the right temperature. The best I could master over time was perfectly frying frozen meat pies.
Even those only worked if they came from Natchitoches! Fortunately, a local frozen food supply store carried them while I was living in Pascagoula, Mississippi for a decade.
But now I’m back in Louisiana and can get them fresh once more!
Meat pies are the star of the show at the Natchitoches Meat Pie Festival on the Riverbank September 13 & 14, 2024. But while they are the headliner, there’s lots more to do and eat!
Beginning Friday night at 6 PM, there will be live music, arts and crafts vendors, food vendors, hot air balloon rides, axe throwing, and a KID ZONE.
The kid zone is for kids of ALL AGES (I checked!) and an armband gives you all-day access. They have giant inflatables, face painting, a bucking bull, jousting arena, and magic shows.
There’s also a cash-prize cornhole tournament where participants are paired with NSU athletes in a joint fundraiser with the University.
Saturday’s events begin at 9 AM, including registration for the 23rdannual River Run bike ride. The ride itself begins at noon.
Fireworks will light the sky Saturday evening after the Double Trouble Zydeco Twins and more take the stage.
To register to ride, call Tammy Dedon at 318-652-4737.
For info about vendor applications or general festival questions, email Jimmy Harper at harpereasyrider@aol.com or call 318-652-0578.
For a complete schedule of events, including the music line-up and vendor applications, visit www.meatpiefestival.com.
Jeanni Ritchie is a contributing journalist from Central Louisiana. She can be reached at jeanniritchie54@gmail.com.
