Samantha Kral serves a steaming helping of hot crawfish Saturday at the Boudreaux and Tibedaux tent during the King Cotton Crawfish Boil at the Hub Plaza on Main Street. The group was one of seven teams competing for recognition from judges and the crowd to be crowned this year’s King Cotton. (Abigail Sipe Rochester/Dispatch Staff)

Joe Couvillion scoops steaming crawfish out of a pot Saturday at the Boudreaux and Tibedaux tent during the King Cotton Crawfish Boil at the Hub Plaza on Main Street. It was the team’s second year entering the boil and competing for the crown. (Abigail Sipe Rochester/Dispatch Staff)

Michael Newman and Ashley Taylor serve a helping of steaming crawfish to Ethan Willey Saturday at the Lagniappe stand during the King Cotton Crawfish Boil at the Hub Plaza on Main Street. The team decided to mix things up, serving dirty rice on the side, along with mushrooms, sausage and other fixings. (Abigail Sipe Rochester/Dispatch Staff)

Van Owen Langston, 6, Smith Abraham, 9, and Asher Clark, 9, play with live crawfish in a bin labeled “Here for the Party” in front of the Small Town Shell Shuckers Tent on Saturday during the King Cotton Crawfish Boil. The boys alternated between touching the crawfish and sucking on lemon halves. (Abigail Sipe Rochester/Dispatch Staff)

Bishop Gorman, CJ Nettles and Benjamin Alexander divide crawfish into cardboard containers at the Ragin’ Agents tent during the King Cotton Crawfish Boil. The team used a variety of methods to persuade attendees to vote for them, including wearing matching t-shirts and having the boys alternate wearing a crawfish costume. (Abigail Sipe Rochester/Dispatch Staff)

Nathan Taylor and Ben Newman stir a bubbling batch of crawfish Saturday in the Lagniappe stand during the King Cotton Crawfish Boil at the Hub Plaza on Main Street. Newman said he pre-smoked the mushrooms and sausage the team served with its crawfish a day in advance, to try to give them the best possible flavor. (Abigail Sipe Rochester/Dispatch Staff)

About a dozen eaters come and go around a table, cracking into crawfish on Saturday during the King Cotton Crawfish Boil on Main Street. Seven teams competed for the crowd’s approval throughout the event, hoping to receive enough tokens to be crowned King Cotton. (Abigail Sipe Rochester/Dispatch Staff)

Rowan Miller, 8, plays with a live crawfish in a bucket behind the Small Town Shell Shuckers tent on Saturday during the King Cotton Crawfish Boil. His mother, Morgan Miller, said it was one way he was entertaining himself throughout the event, since his dad was on stage playing music live as the front man of the Jason Miller Band. (Abigail Sipe Rochester/Dispatch Staff)