I vividly remember the very first National Fried Chicken Festival opening its gates in 2016 at a tiny park in New Orleans called Lafayette Square. What unfolded that day is etched into my memory, not only because over 30,000 people showed up, far surpassing expectations, but because many walked away frustrated. The lines were too long. The site was too small. The restaurants ran out of food. It was hot. Some even called it a disaster.
What people didn’t see were the months of planning, the late nights, the process of learning how to build a festival from scratch with intention, the risks we took to create something fresh, joyful and uniquely ours. But none of that mattered in the moment. What mattered was that people were disappointed. And that mattered to me.
So, we went back to the drawing board. We listened, really listened to the critiques. We overhauled our operations, moved to a larger venue, doubled the number of food vendors, revamped crowd flow and refined the overall experience. And the next year, we got better. Every year since, we’ve gotten better. That’s the beauty and the burden of creating something you love: You must be willing to let it grow through its growing pains…