Jazz and Heritage Festival in New Orleans, Louisiana
Created to honor New Orleans’ legacy as the birthplace of the jazz genre of music, the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival was founded in 1970. From the beginning, it was an event that would attract the biggest names in jazz and other types of music.
Previous to the first festival, the city hired jazz impresario George Wein – who had organized the Newport jazz festival – to put together a cultural event that would give a nod to the city’s rich jazz heritage and cultural history. Wein organized a large daytime fair that included multiple stages, plenty of local cuisine, arts and crafts booths, and an evening concert series. Today, the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival lasts for 6 days (2 weekends) and follows a similar format to the one first suggested by George Wein.
An amazing array of artists appeared at the first festival, including Duke Ellington, Mahalia Jackson, Al Hirt, Fats Domino, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, and many more greats in the business. Unfortunately, only 350 guests showed up to hear their music! However, after moving to the fairgrounds and spreading the word about the event, organizers saw it grow to an attendance of about 80,000 by 1975.
Today, the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival boasts an annual audience of nearly three-quarters of a million people and includes 12 stages full of some of the world’s greatest jazz musicians as well as those from other genres including blues, gospel, zydeco, R&B, funk, rock, Latin, Caribbean, African, and more. Artists appearing at the event have included Aretha Franklin, Paul Simon, Santana, Ella Fitzgerald, Jimmy Buffet, Patty LaBelle, The Dave Matthews Band, Al Green, James Brown, Bonnie Raitt, Willie Nelson, and many, many others. Several concerts are held each day.
Booths peddling crafts and works of art have been a major part of the festival since almost its beginning. Visitors today can visit three different craft areas: Congo Square, which offers art and music from Africa and the African Diaspora; Contemporary Crafts, which features handcrafted clothing, leather goods, handblown glass objects, paintings, photographs, sculptures, and jewelry; and Louisiana Marketplace, which includes objects d’art that represent the unique cultural history of the state. There’s also a Louisiana Folklife Village and the Native American Village, where visitors can view crafts from those heritages.
The food at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival is plentiful and includes a huge number of Cajun and Creole delights and was as some regular “fair-type” food. Expect to find shrimp and okra gumbo, po-boy sandwiches, oyster or crawfish bisque, jambalaya, fried green tomatoes, a variety of bean and rice dishes, and more. Recently, the festival has also added some international foods including Mexican, Vietnamese, and Japanese cuisine. Desserts include pecan pie, sweet potato cookies, banana bread pudding, and more. There are also a number of selections for children who might have less sophisticated palates than their parents.
Tickets are purchased for single days and are cheaper if bought in advance instead of at the festival. (Currently, tickets are $45 in advance and $60 at the gate.) Tickets for children ages 2-10 are only $5. Advanced tickets can be purchased several months before the event at www.ticketmaster.com.
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