Late last week, Phoenix fans of Cajun food were likely crushed to hear about the cancellation of this year's Great Cajun Cook-Off and Foodfest, originally planned for November 6 at Heritage Square. The annual charity event is meant to showcase the Valley's best amateur and professional Cajun and Southern cooking.
According to an email from the the event's organizer, Kim Tovrea, the rough economy was hard on sponsors and amateur contestants alike. A message posted on their Facebook page said, "We wanted to bring you an event of the same caliber, if not better than last year, and it just could not be done under the current circumstances."
"We are working on combining our two events, The Great Cajun Cookoff and Food Fest and The Great Cajun Crawfish Boil into a single, all-encompassing cajun inspired event to be held this Spring," said Tovrea. That event is tentatively scheduled for Sunday, March 25. She went on to say that the initial reaction from event sponsors is very positive and that they actually have more commitments for the spring event than they did for the cook-off.
Tovrea said that the webpages for both events are down until they can completely revise them to reflect the current situation. She said that updates will be forthcoming via their Facebook page.