The 2013 festival season begins Downtown as it has for the past seven years Saturday when the Parrot Heads in Natural Settings Inc. host the 8th Annual Gumbo Festival at the Landing.
The group is the local Jimmy Buffett social club and many of its members also are experienced gumbo chefs. Club President Debbie Renfro said 16 gumbo teams and 13 vendors had registered as of Wednesday and she expects more to join the festival before cooking begins Saturday in the courtyard.
She said this year's event marks the first the festival will have a title sponsor, Margaritaville Parrot Head Advanced Suncare.
When the gumbos are ready to serve, guests who donate $10 are asked to sample each creation and then vote for their favorite.
Prizes are awarded in categories including "People's Choice," based on tasters' votes, and "Best of the Chefs," a category for restaurant entries selected by a panel of celebrity judges.
Prizes also are awarded for the best-decorated booth.
This year the club has expanded the festival to include a Friday evening celebration with two bands scheduled beginning at 5 p.m.
Cooking begins at 10 a.m. Saturday, with tasting under way at 1:30 p.m.
This year's winners will be announced at 4 p.m. or after all the votes are counted.
The George Aspinall Band is scheduled to perform noon-4 p.m., followed by John Friday and Jimmy Parrish and the Ocean Waves.
Proceeds from the event each year are donated to Gleaners Dispatch Inc., a nonprofit agency that collects fresh, perishable food from grocery stores and wholesalers and distributes the food to people in need in North Florida.
"Gleaners Dispatch has been the recipient of more than $20,000 in donations from the festival since we began," Renfro said.
For more information about the group and the festival, visit phinsjax.org.
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