The search for the best taco takes place during Taco Wars April 26.

Culinary competition unites community

You [whip up] a taco, and all of a sudden, the world wants to beat a path to your door.”

That’s how Prize Executive Director Gregory Kallenberg described the turnout at last year’s version of Taco Wars, a presentation of the Prize Foundation’s collection of community projects.

This year’s version will be held on Saturday, April 26, from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Shreveport’s Municipal Auditorium, 731 Elvis Presley Avenue.

The event features samples from local taquerias, sweet treats, cold beer, margaritas and live music and promises a “community like you’ve never seen before.”

Kallenberg was delighted and a little overwhelmed at what happened in 2024. “Last year we had over 10,000 people in a day, and [before] we’d always had between six and eight thousand. But we never had weather like we had last year, beautiful, warm. And we kind of got to see what this thing is and how important it is to the community. The way that it played out was kind of a dream come true, to be quite honest.”

This year, when you show up for the festivities, admission is free; tacos, treats and drinks are priced by the vendors and purchased with Taco Tickets. You buy tickets to purchase from over a dozen taquerias, all vying to be voted the best in the show. Each guest will also get a Best Salsa Voting Token. This token will allow you one vote for best salsa. The winner of the best salsa competition wins $500 cash. Salsas are available to taste free of charge.

Each taqueria submits one taco from its Taco Wars menu for consideration as the Best Taco at the event. The award for Best Taco will be judged by a group of guest judges from across the South.

The paper tickets allow attendees to purchase food and drink from the vendors, and each ticket costs one dollar. Tacos usually cost between two and five tickets each. The individual taquerias set the taco prices. Waters will cost one ticket, sodas will cost three tickets, and alcoholic beverages will cost between six tickets (for some beers) and 12-15 tickets for margaritas. Tickets are not refundable once purchased, but you can buy more if needed. Cash and card payments will be accepted to purchase food and drink tickets.

“It turns out that tacos are a great catalyst,” Kallenberg said. “Seeing black and white and Latino and all the people — rich, poor, young, old in Shreveport and Bossier — come out was pretty inspiring. There is a community of people out there that deserves to be celebrated. They are an important part of that community. And watching them integrate into the wider world is something we’re very proud to be a part of.”

This year, there’s more than just food on the menu. “We’re bringing back even more live music. We’re not only bringing a super well-known DJ from East Texas but also two live bands, including one of the premier mariachi bands in the country,” Kallenberg said.

After the impressive turnout last year, Kallenberg said they are keeping their fingers crossed for a repeat of the beautiful weather the event enjoyed in 2024. He said that about 28 percent of the attendees last year came from Oklahoma, Arkansas, East Texas, Central Louisiana and Mississippi.

“It was crazy to see how regional this thing has become. People will literally travel to Shreveport, Louisiana, to be a part of this festival and the celebration. One thing, there’s nothing like it for our region. When you look at the size and scale of this thing for one day, we’re one of the country’s largest taco and tequila and salsa festivals.

“In a wonderful way, it shows us at our best.

It shows us at a level that we can appreciate and celebrate each other no matter what the political stripe is or the ideological chasm between people. I think there are those moments in time that we put it all down and we connect.”

Kallenberg was gratified by the success but admitted it was a huge undertaking. “From a one-day perspective, it’s the biggest thing we do. There’s nothing that touches something like this from a national perspective. People always ask me, are you competing in Shreveport? I don’t compete against Shreveport; I care about Shreveport. I want it to do better for itself. I’m competing against Louisiana. And I’m competing against the South, hopefully being one of the best, whether it’s Taco Wars with food or Film Prize with film that enables us to be one of the best in the country. That’s my benchmark.”

Kallenberg sees this as The Prize Foundation’s mission.

“We want to present things that are top-notch.

We want people to have a good time, feel that they were served and that they’ll come to everything we do because we’re good at what we do.

“[Last year] was something that was incredibly special. And our goal is to continue to grow it and to keep the spotlight shined on it so that not only the people in the Hispanic and Latino community get celebrated, but we also celebrate ourselves by all coming together.”

The complete lineup and information is available at prizefest.com/tacowars/.

Participating Taquerias for 2025 include:

El Novillo Meat Market
La Potranca
La Villa Taqueria
Maria’s Kitchen
Mi Meza Latin Cuisine
Mi Mercadito
Nicky’s Mexican Restaurant
Pedro’s Mexican Restaurant
Ramirez Mexican Restaurant
Taqueria El Eden
Taqueria Flores
Taqueria La Reyna Del Sur
Taqueria Mi Palmar
Taqueria San Miguel