BATON ROUGE — The 9th annual Baton Rouge Soul Food Festival took place on Saturday at the East Baton Rouge Parish Library on Goodwood Boulevard. 

The free family-friendly event featured live music along with a Vendor's Village, a soul food cooking contest and a mustard greens and cornbread eating competition.

"People from all over usually come out, they sell food, [they]usually have live music and bands playing," owner of Sunshine's Place, Shametria Lavergne, said. "Everybody mingles, dances, and gets to taste a little bit of everything."

Categories in the soul food cooking competition included meats, vegetables and side dishes, breads and desserts, appetizers and soups, and beverages and ices.

"People will have mustard greens, collard greens, smoked ham hocks, fried turkey wings, chicken and fries, boiled turkey neck, a little bit of potatoes and sausage. A little bit of everything."

The event will continue on Sunday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.