Po-Boy Fest in New Orleans starts with a 300-foot po-boy and gets wilder from there

This Friday on Oak Street, you can watch a 300-foot-long ham po-boy being built, one whole loaf at a time, and then take part in the group effort to devour it. That spectacle, however, is mere prelude to the main act on Sunday.

That’s when the Oak Street Po-Boy Festival returns, and once again presents a pantheon of po-boy creativity along a seven-block stretch here.

While Friday’s 300-foot po-boy will be remarkable in its scale, the 30-plus vendors taking part in this year’s festival on Sunday will bring po-boys that range from traditional to wild.

The escargot po-boy from NOLA Boils is back, for instance, and there’s a fried lobster po-boy again, this time from Voleo’s (picking up the mantle from past vendor GW Fins).

Seafood Sally’s has a barbecue pork jowl po-boy, and a shrimp one tossed with chili butter. The Swinel Richie Charity BBQ team (of Hogs for the Cause fame) will bring a fried porchetta po-boy and “the Chub,” with homemade bologna and (not homemade) American cheese.

How about a calamari Parmesan po-boy? Brocato’s Catering has you covered.

See below for details on this po-boy packed day (which, yes, is the Saints bye week). But first, there’s Friday.

Ham it up Friday

Overseeing Friday’s gigantic po-boy block party is a man with specific experience in such undertakings.

Justin Kennedy, of Parkway Tavern & Bakery, has presided over 300-foot po-boys in the past for events at his own restaurant, and he’s coaching this one.

Assembly begins at 10 a.m. on the street outside the Maple Leaf Bar (8316 Oak St.). The po-boy should be ready around noon, when it will be available for the public to sample, free of charge.

The giant po-boy, using Chisesi ham and bread from the John Gendusa Bakery, is billed as a kickoff to Sunday’s festival.

For vendors taking part, though, Po-Boy Fest preparations started long ago, and they often begin with a concept made to stand out.

Competitive juices, gravy

Po-Boy Fest is a feast, but for vendors it’s also a competition. Winners in various categories get bragging rights, and sometimes the po-boys they create end up on their permanent menus.

Jason Seither, of Seither’s Seafood, credits early appearances at Po-Boy Fest with making his Harahan restaurant what it is today. 

“It’s like Mardi Gras day for us; we all go out there and have a blast celebrating our city’s sandwich,” Seither said.

This year, he’s bringing a roast beef po-boy with thin, crunchy potato sticks, and bringing back a past winner, “the "Voodoo fish & chips po-boy" with blackened redfish, slaw and a layer of Zapp’s Voodoo chips.

While Seither has been part of Po-Boy Fest for many years, the 2023 lineup includes numerous new vendors.

What kind of po-boy do you think the genre-defying “tropical roadhouse” restaurant Mister Mao would bring for its debut? The answer is twofold: a Tunisian smoked tuna po-boy with lemon, olives and spicy harissa, and a chicken al pastor po-boy with pineapple hot sauce and cotija mayo.

Moe’s Original BBQ is also debuting with the “gobble wobble,” a Thanksgiving po-boy with white barbecue sauce, and a rendition of the Cuban sandwich, also with white barbecue sauce (Moe’s roots are in Alabama, after all, home of white barbecue sauce).

Gonzo’s Smokehouse & BBQ, the exceptional Texas-style barbecue restaurant out by the levee in Luling (open Fridays only), will be back at the festival for the second year.

In 2022, Gonzo’s won the best specialty category for its smoked beef cheek po-boy. This year, pitmaster Jason Gonzales is upping the ante with a po-boy filled with beef belly burnt ends, richly imbued with smoke and fat and pepper, on a Dong Phuong loaf.

“People love the beef belly burnt ends at the restaurant, so let’s put it on a po-boy loaf; it’s as simple as that,” Gonzales said.

Meatless po-boys are also in the mix from the vegan bakery Breads on Oak, Voodoo Vegan (which won best meatless category last year for the fried oyster mushroom po-boy) and Blessed Sacrament/St. Joan of Arc Church (with a vegetarian eggplant Parm).

See updates to the festival menu at poboyfest.com/food-vendors.

How it works

Festival admission is free for the music areas and street scene and a wristband purchase is required to buy food from vendors. It’s a unique format, and one that keeps the festival ostensibly free while still generating revenue as local events face rising fees and production costs.

As always, the setting is an important part of the festival. It transforms Oak Street’s historic, low-rise corridor of shops and offices into an open-air food court. Many of these businesses take part with their own food and drink offerings.

Oak Street is lined with various music areas and stages, including a piano truck and a new stage at Dante Street, dubbed “Urban South on Oak” with a draft beer truck from Urban South Brewing. One stage is now at the end of Oak Street by Eagle Street this year, stretching the festival out a bit more (you’ll find Mister Mao and Moe’s near this stage). George Porter Jr. headlines the festival, with a 4 p.m. set on the Leonidas Street stage.

Also new this year is a Kids’ Zone run by the School of Rock music school (at Joliet and Zimple streets).

The Oak Street Po-Boy Festival

Sunday, Nov. 19, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Oak Street from South Carrollton Avenue to Eagle Street

300-ft. Po-boy Block Party is Friday (Nov. 17), 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at, free admission.

Free entry, $10 wristband required to buy food; $25 "fast pass" for faster access to food booths; $125 tickets for indoor VIP lounge with food and drink and fast pass access.

Details and tickets at poboyfest.com.

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