How the New Orleans Jazz Festival Began
Although there are many kinds of jazz festivals taking place in The Big Easy, in most cases the term ‘jazz fest’ refers to the annual New Orleans Jazz Festival (also known as New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival).
History of the New Orleans Jazz Festival
In 1970, members of the New Orleans Hotel Motel Association decided to establish the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation. It contracted Festival Productions, Inc., owned by George Wein, to launch the first New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.
The first step that Wein took was to assemble a team of artistic advisers, which included the likes of Harry Souchon, Richard B. “Dick” Allen, and Ellis Marsalis. Other notable names are Quint Davis, who served as intern, and Allison Miner, a recommended employee from the Hogan Jazz Archives of Tulane University. Today, Quint serves as the corporation’s CEO while Miner, who passed away in 1995, is credited for establishing the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation Archive.
The first two festivals took place at Beauregard Square, which is now known as Louis Armh2 Park. In 1972, the festival moved to the New Orleans Fair Grounds and Racetrack and had continued its run there since then.
In the early years of the festival, only local acts used to be featured. But as the fame and scope of the festival grew, the event soon became a hotbed for the most sought-after and upcoming acts from all parts of the country and from a variety of musical genres.
What to Expect from the New Orleans Jazz Festival
Although the festival title bears only the word jazz and the city’s name, the festival’s name is more regional than it appears. According to its official website, the festival is aimed at celebrating the music and culture that encompasses not only New Orleans but the entire state of Louisiana as well. Hence, beside jazz – whether contemporary or traditional – the festival also welcomes acts featuring gospel music, blues, Cajun music, Afro-Caribbean, and many other music genres that have been known to flourish in the state.
The festival is one of the most popular events in the state, rivaled only by the city’s equally popular Mardi Gras. While the festival technically takes place only on two weekends (typically the last April weekend and the first May weekend), the days leading and between those weekends are populated by many other jazz fests. The festival starts on a Friday for the first weekend and ends on Sunday. For sthe second weekend, the festival starts just a day earlier on Thursday.