New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
The birthplace of jazz: That’s the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in a nutshell, commanding its rightful place across every last weekend of April and first weekend of May.
But if something can be “so much more than jazz,” this festival manages it by celebrating the indigenous music and culture of New Orleans and Louisiana. Line up for Blues, R&B, gospel, Cajun, zydeco, Afro-Caribbean, folk, Latin, rock, rap, country, bluegrass, and everything in between.
At its heart, the 8-day cultural feast involves thousands of musicians, cooks, and craftspeople welcoming 400,000 visitors each year. The food-court-to-end-all-food-courts serve up glorious Louisiana cuisine, and the walkways burst with second-line parades and crafts artisans from the region and around the world. At night, clubs across New Orleans feature de facto afterparties that do the fest justice.
The big names this year? Pearl Jam, Li’l Wayne & the Roots, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, Kasey Musgrave, Lenny Kravitz, Luke Combs, Patti Labelle, Chapel Hart, Hurray for the Riff Raff, among many others. Plus a special Jazz Fest Celebrates Mexico line-up featuring Lila Downs, Banda MS, Son de Madera, Mariachi Los Camperos, Son Rompe Pera, El Dusty, Mexican Institute of Sound, and more.
Of course, there’s the reliably Jazz Festy Big Freedia, Irma Thomas, Galactic featuring Jelly Joseph, Cyril Neville, Zigaboo Modaliste, Harry Connick, Jr., Trombone Shorty, Marc Broussard, Rebirth Brass Band, Terence Blanchard, Bonerama, and so many more.
It’s stuff of legends, y’all, and everything you’ve heard about it is true. Be there!
Read More at New Orleans Jazz Fest
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