If you enjoy the Red Beans Parade – that legume-loving marching club that celebrates the importance of red beans & rice and carnival every Lundi Gras – then you’ll surely have an appetite for its offshoot, the Dead Beans Parade. Devin DeWulf started the Red Bean Parade in 2008, incorporating elements of a second line and Mardi Gras Indian tribes into a walking parade which takes place – naturally – on a Monday. Monday has traditionally been the day New Orleanians cook red beans and rice, so Lundi Gras was a natural fit. The krewe’s philosophy is simple. It’s about meeting and socializing with other creative types while celebrating New Orleans’ quirky culture. Members meet on Monday nights to work on their bean-adorned costumes, have a drink, and eat red beans. The elaborate costumes are a point of pride to the group. The first parade consisted of about 20 members, but today it boasts more than five times as many.

The Dead Beans Parade

The Krewe of Red Beans has always had marchers who costume as skeletons – also known as “Dead Beans” – as well as those whose costumes are tributes to celebrities who’ve died in the preceding year. So in order to grow the popular krewe in a way that keeps the marches small and intimate, it made sense to create a separate group called the Dead Beans.

Got kids? The Dead Beans aren’t scary – they’re fun! Carnival-goers of all ages are welcome.

The Competition

Now that Mardi Gras is over, our Red Beans Parade friends have organized their next bean-loving event – an awesome Bean Madness tournament. In this take-off on the annual college basketball March Madness event, 32 restaurants and individual chefs will compete to see who makes the best red beans & rice in New Orleans. Ian McNulty of the New Orleans Advocate has described this event as a “uniquely interactive way to celebrate the humble but vital dish around town, drawing directly on the tastes and preferences of New Orleans people.” And we couldn’t agree more.

For a Good Cause

Running March 1-April 6, 2020, this single-elimination tournament will raise money for multiple nonprofits including Anna’s Place NOLA, which offers after-school and summer camp programs as well as health outreach and a food pantry; Make Music NOLA, a free music-for-social-change program; Electric Girls, which helps girls to develop and strengthen skills in science, technology, engineering and math; Market Umbrella, which assists farmers’ markets and promotes fresh food access in New Orleans; the Southern Rep Theater, which showcases original theatrical voices and performances reflecting Southern heritage; and SoulNOLA, which plants much-needed trees across urban New Orleans. Here at Camellia, we’re thrilled to sponsor the competition.

Donate, Make Predictions & Win!

How can you get in on the action? Donate and make your predictions here. Your donation will go to the non-profits. You also have the ability to sign up to play and create a bracket online. View your bracket anytime, and follow along in the leaderboard section for updates!

The winner of the bracket will receive lots of silly prizes from the Krewe of Red Beans and Camellia Beans.

Taste-Test Schedule

The tournament features pop-up blind-taste tests around New Orleans that’ll take place at corner bars, bookstores, groceries and markets. Here’s the full lineup of tastings, so you can see who’s competing where and when. The experts on the matter – the people of New Orleans – will judge the red beans and ultimately crown a champion.

The “Final Fork”, with the final four competitors, will be held April 4 from 5-8 p.m. at Zony Mash Beer Project and the championship party and silent auction will take place April 6 from 6-9 p.m. at Capulet Bywater.

Gather ’round with Pableaux Johnson (New Orleans food writer, photographer and one of Epicurious’ recent Top 100 Greatest Home Cooks of All Time) at his next stop in Houston, Texas. His Red Beans Road Show will be staging a Monday-night takeover on January 27, 2020, when Brennan’s chef Joe Cervantez and host Alex Brennan-Martin and their crew will open Brennan’s of Houston for a night of food, friends and fun.

This family style throw-down will feature a chef-created appetizer, Pableaux’s famous red beans & rice with cornbread, and something sweet – plus maybe a surprise or two. Pableaux always keeps it interesting!

Order tickets online while they last, and come break cornbread and make memories with friends and strangers alike.

Photo courtesy of Brennan’s of Houston

Hungry for more details? Here’s everything else you need to know about the Red Beans Road Show:

Good, Simple Food & New Friends

Louisiana food writer, photographer and “general n’er-do-well” Pableaux Johnson meets up with local restaurant chefs in each town or city he visits, to host an informal, family-style feast featuring “good, simple food, camaraderie and appropriate misbehavior.” 

Pableaux Is a Hoot!

Buy your tickets and show up to eat, drink and shoot the breeze with culinary and culture enthusiasts. As ringleader and organizer of the shenanigans, Pableaux gives a short presentation on Louisiana foodways that will leave you hankering for all things Louisiana, and then it’s a fun night of breaking bread (Pableaux’s grandpa’s skillet cornbread, that is), eating down-home, delicious food and drinking a cold beer with a roomful of friendly strangers. 

Local Chefs Are in on It

Pableaux cooks his signature Red Beans & Rice made with Camellia Brand Red Kidney Beans, and his local chef partners serve up a simple starter (like deviled eggs or hand pies) and a dessert (like bread pudding or homemade pie). 

Take the Tradition Home with You

Everyone who attends gets a bag of Camellia Red Kidney Beans and a recipe card to make Red Beans & Rice, so you can start your own tradition at home!

Everyone who attends gets a bag of Camellia Red Kidney Beans and a recipe card for Red Beans & Rice, so they can start their own tradition at home!