Today marks the start of the Carnival and King Cake seasons, and although this year's Carnival is only six week's long, king cake vendors don't expect any drop-offs in sales.
"We're hoping for a big year," Alton Osborn at Bywater Bakery.
Osborn said if King's Day sales are any indication, this year's King Cake sales will at the very least match last year's.
"We opened the doors and did gangbusters business," Osborn said. "We opened at 8:00, and our shelves are quickly depleting."
Haydel's Bakery had a similar rush this morning.
"We've been pretty busy," Haydel's owner Dave Haydel said. "We had people lined up this morning waiting to get their officially-legal king cakes."
According to Haydel, his and other bakeries should sell just as many king cakes as last year even though this year's Carnival is two weeks shorter than last year.
"Last year, we had two weeks of snow," Haydel said, adding that the snow hampered 2025's king cake sales. "We hope to meet last year's goal."
Osborn agrees.
"It'll be shorter, but short and sweet is all we can hope for," Osborn said.
If you're planning on getting your own king cake, we have some good news: king cake prices are holding steady.
"We do all that we can to keep (prices) low," Osborn said. "We try to keep (prices) consistent, and it's a competitive market."
"We're on par with last year," Haydel said. "We're trying to keep our king cakes affordable for everybody."
Both Osborn and Haydel say keeping prices the same means customers keep coming back, which means his and other bakeries can continue to give back to their communities.
"Real employees. Paying them real wages. Doing what we have to do as a local business," Osborn said.
"We do what we have to do," Haydel said.