New Orleans Roadfood Festival From March 24–25

The fourth annual New Orleans Roadfood Festival will be held in the city's historic French Market from March 24–25, 2012. More than 30 restaurants from across the United States will participate and serve the dishes that made them famous.

Attendees will be able to street-feast upon Texas and Memphis barbecue, Tucson's best tamales, custard from upstate New York, Cajun and Creole delicacies from across Louisiana, and many other regional culinary specialties.

There will also be cooking demos, live music, a beignet-eating contest for the N.O. Fire Department and a kickoff party featuring the Sterns, local chefs and noted cookbook author Lynne Rossetto Kasper.

Admission to the festival is free. You'll still have to pay for those good eats, but a portion of the proceeds will benefit Cafe Reconcile, a non-profit restaurant that uses innovative strategies to provide life skills and job training to youth from at-risk communities in area.