The French Food Festival announced its 2025 Grand Marshal – a man who has been a volunteer at this event and others in the community for most of his life.
The festival announced this week that Mr. Nat E. Pitre is the Grand Marshal for the 2025 French Food Festival, the 50th anniversary for the popular local event.
Pitre is a lifelong resident of Larose.
He is the son of the late Anatole ‘Scat’ Pitre and the late Gloria Hebert Pitre. He is married to Dana Felarise Pitre, his wife of 31 years. The couple has deep roots to the community. Pitre is the stepfather of Jovi Thibodeaux and he is a ‘PoppaPhil’ to grandson Parker Thibodeaux, of Leesburg, Florida.
Pitre is a 1987 graduate of South Lafourche High School. He began his career as a mechanic with Latelco where he worked for 20 years. He currently is a maintenance technician at LOOP, LLC.
Nat has been part of the Larose Civic Center’s history for decades.
He started volunteering at 15 at BINGO nights and also helped to maintain equipment.
He worked alongside his Godfather Linton Hebert (also a French Food Festival Grand Marshal) and his uncle Weisney ‘Red’ Hebert building fair stands, helping in the bar and carrying on family traditions of service.
In 1994, Uncle Red passed the torch onto Nat and he stepped up and has been a fixture ever since, serving drinks and rallying his family and friends to help the French Food Festival, the Wild Game Supper and the annual card show and other Civic Center events hosted during the year.
Nat was inducted into the Larose Civic Center Hall of Fame in 2010. He is also a former member of the Krewe of Versailles, a current member of the Knights of Columbus and a longtime donor to the United Way, directing his contributions to the Larose Civic Center.
Nat enjoys camping and visiting family in Florida. He loves classic cars and has a need for speed. He is a big fan of the NHRA.
He said being the Grand Marshal of the event so near to him is a huge honor and he cannot wait to see family and friends turn out to support the event.
“It is a tremendous honor to be chosen as Grand Marshal for the 50th year of the French Food Festival. I’m praying for beautiful weather and looking forward to a memorable year. I invite everyone near and far to come out the last full weekend of October and enjoy and experience one of the best festivals Lafourche Parish has to offer.”
The 2025 French Food Festival will be held from Oct. 24-26.
Dining and Cooking