BATON ROUGE - Restaurants are preparing for a busy weekend as they get ready to kick off crawfish season with "Crawfête," a festival where you'll be able to enjoy the best boiled crawfish and crawfish-inspired dishes from all your favorite local restaurants.

"We're going to have about 11 restaurants participating Sunday in the 'Gourmet Crawfish Dish,' and then 11 other restaurants participating in our 'Boiling Competitions,' so you can come out and see who you think has the best crawfish in Baton Rouge," said Stephen Hightower, president of the Baton Rouge Epicurean Society.

See more 2une In coverage here

Some of the restaurants participating this weekend are C&M Crawfish, Hot Tails, Roux 61, Tony's Seafood, Food N’ Geaux, Rouj Creole, Dragos, Tony's Seafood, Solera, Bergeron's City Market, Beausoleil Coastal, Houma's House, Sammy's Grill, Golden Vegan, Mestizo, Tallulah Crafted Food & Wine, Cecilia Bistro, Playa Bowl, Ivar's, Just Wingin' It, Walk On's Sports Bistreaux and LSU Dining.

It's all food and fun, and it's all for a good cause. Proceeds raised from Crawfête will go to local charities in Baton Rouge.

"The mission of the Baton Rouge Epicurean Society is focused on giving back to our Baton Rouge community for childhood nutrition health and education," Hightower said. "We had a great year in 2022, giving out the most money back to the community that we ever have, and this year, we need to back that up."

It kicks off Sunday, March 12 from 2p.m. to 5p.m. Tickets are $100 and can be purchased through the Baton Rouge Epicurean Society's website, https://www.bresbr.org/crawfete.