History of The Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival

For over 30 years, the Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival has provided a venue as the largest
fundraiser for non-profit and charitable organizations. The festival prides itself as being one of
the only festivals in which non-profit organizations are the only vendors on the official festival
grounds.

The Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival Board was organized in 1971 and started planning
for the first festival to be held in April of 1972. The first festival was co-sponsored by
the Ponchatoula Jaycees and the Ponchatoula Chamber of Commerce from which both
organizations provided three members to serve on the festival board.

The committee and many other interested volunteers worked diligently for months planning
the first festival. The location of the festival comprised of the first block of North 6th Street
and only had 11 booths. This two-day event started off with a baseball game between
Southeastern Louisiana University and Wisconsin State. Later that day the first annual parade
made its way through Ponchatoula with 65 units from all over the state. Estimated attendance
for the weekend of the first Strawberry Festival was 15,000. The crowd estimates for 2008 were
over 300,000.

Our first royalty court consisted of Queen Sissy Dufreche, King Fred Beachamp, and Princess
Sandy Smith. The queen and her court made several appearances on television and radio
stations throughout the state to publicize the festival. During his first term in office, Governor
Edwin Edwards proclaimed April as Strawberry Festival Month.

From the Strawberry Festival's humble beginning; it has "blossomed" into a Louisiana
celebration second only to Mardi Gras in its magnitude. We are the second largest free festival
in the state.

Today, the annual festival is organized by the Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival Board, Inc. The
board is comprised of a chairperson, chairperson-elect, treasurer, secretary, parliamentarian,
and other essential positions. Decisions of the festival board are the responsibility of the 16
voting board members who represent the following organizations: Ponchatoula Chamber of
Commerce, Ponchatoula Jaycees, Ponchatoula Rotary Club, Ponchatoula Kiwanis, Knights
of Columbus, Ponchatoula Youth Baseball, Champ Cooper School, and the American Legion.
The Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival board is a proud member of Louisiana Association of
Fairs and Festivals.


Click here to find out how  Ponchatoula became the Strawberry Capital
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Food Booths are for Non-Profit Only