LAFAYETTE — When 15-year-old Moniphon Xiong of Lafayette spent the morning scooping oatmeal Saturday at the city’s 19th annual Lafayette Quaker Oatmeal Festival, she learned a thing or two about the art of the perfect bowl.
“You definitely learn how to, like, not drip,” she said. “You have to be mixing it, and people don’t like oatmeal if it’s too watery. You have to make sure it’s consistently mixed and that it’s looking creamy.”
This is the sort of critical oatmeal thinking that distinguishes Lafayette, and elevates it from just another city that casually enjoys oats to the true nucleus of the American oat universe.
“We’re the only oatmeal festival in the whole United States,” said Vicki Trumbo, executive director of the Lafayette Chamber of Commerce. “People think, ‘Uh, why would I stand in line to eat oatmeal?’ But it’s this whole atmosphere. It’s just quirky enough that it’s hard to explain to people who aren’t here.”
Saturday’s festival packed more than 3,000 humans and 3,600 pounds of oats into an elementary gymnasium where participants could partake at a world-class oatmeal toppings bar that grows more impressive each year.
The bar has 119 different items, ranging from classics such as brown sugar and walnuts to more controversial, new-age toppings, including jelly beans, jalapeños and cheddar cheese.
This year, the bar was actually nine toppings smaller than it was at its 2014 peak.
“We cut back on some of the candy,” said Pat Vero, of the Lafayette chamber. “Like, instead of having spice drops and gum drops and sugarfree drops, we just have one kind of drop now.”
The only new addition to this year’s bar was hot sauce. She also hinted that scallions and soy sauce could be added to next year’s toppings roster.
Lafayette resident David Criswell said he relished the variety. On Saturday, he munched down a bowl topped with Craisins, M&Ms, brown sugar and trail mix. “Nice to have the M&Ms in there. That was a nice finish.”
Brandi Gallegos of Thornton means it when she says she’d show up for oatmeal any day.
“We eat oatmeal every morning,” she said. “It’s easy to get up for.”
Gallegos has even begun indoctrinating her three small children. “My kids will eat it without any sugar on it,” she boasted.
