Wedged in between partitions of limestone rock within the coronary heart of the open-air Greek amphitheater at Brackenridge Park, the odor of sausage, rice, grilled meats and seasoning stuffed the air from vendor cubicles, at which some cooks had been already at work, wiping sweat off their foreheads as they hauled masses of meals and provides.
They had been on the Sunken Garden Theater a day early, preparing for the San Antonio Zulu Association’s thirty sixth annual A Taste of New Orleans, an official Fiesta occasion anticipated to appeal to 50,000 folks to the three-day occasion that begins Friday at 5 p.m.
This 12 months, Big Freedia, a preferred rapper identified for her work within the New Orleans style of hip hop referred to as bounce, will take the stage Friday at 9 p.m.
The Zulu Association linked with New Orleans members and buddies to land Big Freedia to carry out for Fiesta in San Antonio. The purpose is to appeal to a youthful crowd to A Taste of New Orleans, mentioned Terrell Brown, advertising and marketing chairman for the San Antonio Zulu Association.
About 15 distributors had arrange their tents and arranged a workflow forward of cooking time. With the occasion lower than 24 hours away, Thursday night was about organising, letting the turkey legs marinate and prepping to begin cooking within the morning, regardless that some had been forward of the sport with plates full of sausage and rice.
The 24-hour marinated turkey legs is a household recipe, mentioned San Antonio native Anthony Bussey, who was accompanied by three kinfolk Thursday, prepping.
Like most of the distributors that attend A Taste of New Orleans, the Bussey household will not be enterprise house owners, nor show an official enterprise title on their sales space. They merely attend the Fiesta occasion to serve their finest meals.
Brown mentioned that particularly after COVID, many distributors determined to swap from brick-and-mortar eating places to attending vendor occasions.
The household begins preparations for A Taste of New Orleans months earlier than the occasion, beginning by inserting enormous orders of shrimp, pepper jack cheese, bacon, turkey legs and sausage.
Even with 15 instances of sausage, every of which holds over 30 kilos of sausage, plus 250 instances of their best-selling turkey legs, Bussey mentioned their sales space should still run out.
“My expectation is to go to the store and get more,” he mentioned laughing. “I have a Plan B.”
The Bussey household has labored A Taste of New Orleans yearly because it started, they mentioned. Being a household enterprise, virtually everybody pitches in. The key to promoting out? The sauces and marinades, that are made with secret household recipes, Bussey mentioned.
While Bussey wouldn’t expose particulars, he mentioned the seasoning isn’t overpowering with warmth. The turkey leg is crunchy on the skin, whereas the meat inside is tender and “falling off the bone.”

His favourite half of A Taste of New Orleans is seeing everybody come collectively and dance within the “second line” that all the time types. A second line is the New Orleans custom of common people lining up behind the band, or the primary line, in a parade.
“Those are the people trying to lift everybody’s spirits. They’re dancing, festive, great mood,” mentioned Brown. “The good times.”
There shall be greater than 40 distributors serving delicacies from throughout on the occasion, Brown mentioned, together with Dallas, New Orleans and East Texas.
“We always tell people, ‘if you’re coming, be sure you bring the stretchy pants,’” Brown mentioned. “The food at this event is memorable, to say the least. … If you’re a foodie, this is where you got to meet, even if just to taste something.”

The entrance payment to A Taste of New Orleans is $25 per particular person and two-day admission for Saturday and Sunday is $35. The occasion is simply accepting BlastPass credit as fee for meals, drinks and different actions, which can be bought on-line or on the occasion. The cash raised goes to a scholarship fund that awards up to 30 scholarships to San Antonio highschool seniors headed to school. Scholarships are introduced at a May luncheon hosted by the San Antonio Zulu Association.
Students are chosen by means of the Minnie Stevens Piper Foundation, a nonprofit group that helps “financially limited but worthy” college students go to school.
“There are volumes and volumes of food that’s consumed,” Brown mentioned. “We even have people that come and just get food to go. They’ll pay the entrance fee because they know it goes to our community programs and scholarships, and they will just get bags and food and just leave.”
Brown pointed to a banner emblazoned with New Orleans’ unofficial motto: Laissez les bons temps rouler, which interprets roughly to “Let the good times roll.” Standing within the center of the amphitheater, he took within the buzzing exercise, the smells and the curve of the rock partitions.
“It’s literally just like a big bowl of gumbo,” he mentioned.