Community Bank Crawfest Rules and Regulations

a. Teams may have no more than 5 members, including one team captain. The captain will be the liaison between the Cook Off Committee and the team.

b. Set-up may begin no earlier than 8:00 a.m. on the third Saturday in April. All teams must check-in by 10:00 a.m. to participate. Breakfast will be provided for Teams.

c. The Downtown Crawfest will be open to the public from 11:00 a.m. – 3:00p.m. Winners are announced at 2:30 p.m.

d. Judging will begin after 11:00 a.m. with respect to everything running on time and as teams are ready.

e. Teams are responsible for cleaning up their cooking area after the event is over.

 f. Laurel Main Street will sell beer; however, teams may bring their own supply provided that 1) All who drink alcoholic beverages are over the age of 21 2) No glass bottles are used, and 3) No beer or alcoholic beverage is served to the public or any non-team member.

 g. Only team members are allowed in the area of activity prior to the opening of the event.

a. All crawfish must be cooked ON SITE the day of the cook-off, FROM SCRATCH, NO PRE-COOKING. All crawfish (and any extra items) must be prepared out in the open, no cooking in motor homes, etc.

i. From Scratch is defined as starting with raw ingredients. No marinating is allowed.

ii. Commercial flavoring powders are permissible.

b. Teams must prepare and cook in as sanitary a manner as possible. Cooks must provide all cooking and serving utensils, but electricity will be provided. Any chairs, coolers, tent, tables, paper towels or other cooking accessories must also be provided by the cooks. Laurel Main Street will provide serving baskets and paper towels for the public.

c. Each head cook is responsible for preparing three sacks of crawfish that he/he intends to be judged. Only one judging cup may be turned in from that pot. Laurel Main Street will provide 2 sacks of crawfish. (You may provide your own or order more at market price from our supplier at the team meeting prior to the cook off and cook more crawfish.) Cooked crawfish will be for sale for those who want more than just tastes from teams.

d. At no time should you leave cooking pots unattended and a CLASS K FIRE EXTINGUISHER is required (by the city) for each team to have on site.

 e. Ample waste disposal containers will be provided for both public and team usage.

 f. Water and water waste disposal will also be accommodated.

 g. Teams may erect a 10 x 10 pop-up tent or larger if you purchased more space. Note the requirement for a Class K Fire extinguisher above.

a. An entry fee is $300. That fee affords 12 feet by 12 feet space, a single judging entry in the Traditional Category, a single judging entry in the Covfefe Category, and one entry for a member of the team to serve as a guest judge.

b. An additional entry fee of $200 must be paid for any additional spots or judging entries. The additional fee of $200 provides duplicates of all above-listed items.

c. Should a team wish to enter more than one item in the Covfefe Category, they may do so with no extra fee.

a. Spots are awarded first to sponsors, then on a first come, first served basis. Spots will be assigned at the captains’ meeting the Monday prior to the event.

b. Teams are not allowed to play their own music, there will be live music.

c. Generators are prohibited. Should teams desire to have electricity, it can be obtained through the light poles along Front Street.

d. Under the City of Laurel Smokefree Air Act of 2008, no smoking (including cigarettes, cigars, electronic cigarettes, and vaporizers) is allowed.

e. The Downtown Crawfest is a rain or shine event.

f. Laurel Main Street reserves the right to remove any person from the Crawfest area of activity at any time for any reason.

a. The Traditional category is the automatic entry for teams and will be judged solely on the crawfish themselves.

b. The Covfefe category includes any extra foods cooked with the crawfish, such as potatoes, corn, sausages, etc.; entry into the covfefe category is entirely optional and performance in this category does not affect scores in the traditional category.

c. Additionally, we will recognize People’s Choice by popular vote and best displayed tent with a Spirit of Crawfest award.

a. 10:00 a.m. -each team should check in at Lott Furniture with the judging coordinator, you will receive a bag of supplies, your number, entry containers and a turn in time. (You are responsible for turning in your entry).

b. Turn-in times for each team are set. No changes to a team’s time will be made. A turn-in window of 10 minutes before and after the set time will be recognized.

c. Covfefe and Traditional judging are separate and require separate containers. If any additional items are included in either container, they will be disregarded for judging purposes.

d. Each team must provide at least two crawfish per judge. Typically, there are 5 judges, but Laurel Main Street reserves the right to appoint additional judges at any time prior to the day of the event.

e. Teams entering the Covfefe category can only submit one additional type of item for judging. For example, if both potatoes and corn are cooked with the crawfish, either potatoes or corn can be entered, NOT BOTH. Teams must provide one additional item per judge. See note “d” above for more information on the number of judges.

f. All cooks may be required to eat a crawfish or lagniappe from their judging cup before turning it in for judging.

i. TEXTURE: Crawfish should have a firm but pliable texture, neither excessively chewy nor overly soft (mushy).

ii. EASE OF PEELING: Crawfish should peel easily

iii. DEPTH OF FLAVOR: Crawfish should have multiple layers of flavor. A single overriding spiciness or an overwhelming fish flavor should be avoided.

iv. AFTERTASTE: Aftertaste refers to the heat and any flavor that remains after crawfish has been swallowed.

a. Traditional Award $500 Cash & prize

b. Covfefe Award $500 Cash & prize

c. People’s Choice $100 Cash & prize

d. Spirt of Crawfest $100 Cash prize & prize