Beautiful weather drew large crowds to the 74th annual Our Lady of Prompt Succor Parish Tomato Festival, where families enjoyed great music, fun rides, and fantastic food on the school and church grounds in Chalmette.
“We’re so glad that the festival was a success, and we are pleased with the early numbers,” said David Caruso, one of the festival’s co-chairmen. “The festival is an important fundraiser for our church and school.”
“We had amazing weather and amazing support from our St. Bernard family,” Festival Co-Chairman Herbie Fisher said. “This festival is the last of its kind in our parish and is near and dear to all of us and reminds us of the time when there used to be several school/church/volunteer/community-based festivals in St. Bernard. Thank you for coming out to our show and for the continued support for the past 74 years and stay tuned for Tomato Fest 2026 as we will celebrate our 75th year! Can’t wait to see y’all here.”
OLPS School Principal Charol Armand agreed.
“The Tomato Festival is always known for being a family-friendly festival that brings the community together, as well as drawing former residents home for the weekend,” Armand said. “This year’s festival was incredibly successful and is such an important event for our community.”
Fisher said he, Caruso and the other two festival co-chairmen Anthony Lauro and Kevin Berthelot “would like to give a very special thanks to all of our committee members and volunteers, the church community, including the Spanish church community, led by the Rev. Marlon Mangubat and the Rev. Andy Gonzalez, friends and family members from Our Lady of Prompt Succor School, and our patrons every year who allow us to do what we do. This is quite a task, but it runs smoothly because of y’all.”
“We want to thank our St. Bernard Parish Sheriff’s Office for providing security so we could enjoy a safe environment, knowing our children were protected by you. We also want to thank all our firefighters, ambulance workers, and all our service members who give us the freedom to have events like this and call this place home.”
Fisher said they always welcome new volunteers.
“We are always looking for people to come and volunteer and help us set up the festival. It’s a lot of work with a lot of rewards,” Fisher said. “We are a school and church volunteer festival that is truly done off the backs and sweat of the volunteers who are involved.”
He also wanted to thank all those who competed and supported the pageants. This year’s newly crowned festival royalty includes the 73rd Miss Tomato Lyrissa Landry, 73rd Teen Tomato Queen Vivian Coulon, and 4th Junior Tomato Queen Hillary Hoffman.
Next year’s festival will be April 17-19. Anyone who is interested in volunteering can visit the festival website for more information at www.olpstomatofest.com. For information, contact tomatofestival@olpsschool.org or call 504-271-3441, extension 7.
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