11 a.m. - 9:30 p.m.

Pinch A Palooza 2017, a family friendly seafood festival celebrating Louisiana’s unique delicacy, comes once again to the shores of Lake Pontchartrain just in time for Louisiana Crawfish Awareness Month.

The eighth-annual Pinch A Palooza Festival, presented by Deanie’s Seafood Restaurants, takes place 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., Sun., April 23 at Deanie’s Seafood Restaurant in Bucktown. Admission is free. Information is available at Pinchapalooza.com. Pinch A Palooza supports the Louisiana Organ Procurement Agency.

Pinch A Palooza features seven bands, including Flow Tribe, Amanda Shaw & The Cute Guys, Vince Vance & The Valiants, Rockin’ Dopsie Jr. & The Zydeco Twisters and The Benchwarmers, crawfish eating contests for both adults and children age 6-12, and crawfish races and games for the kids. Deanie’s will serve up a variety of crawfish specialties, including crawfish nachos, crawfish balls, fried crawfish tails, étouffée, and thousands of pounds of fresh boiled Crawfish served with corn and potatoes, plus a selection of non-seafood items, beer and specialty cocktails.

The Zagat-rated Deanie’s Seafood will crown the champion of the Pinch A Palooza Crawfish Eating Contest following two heats of competitors and a championship round. Go to Pinchapalooza.com to register to participate in the Crawfish Eating Contest. (Kids register day of the event.) Registration is $20. The Pinch A Palooza champion will receive a Deanie’s Seafood crawfish boil for 20 people, and other great prizes will be awarded.