JAZZFEST TIPS
Dress for comfort, not for style. Festival grounds are either dusty or muddy or worse — when it's not hosting JazzFest, the grounds are a horse park, and you know what that means. Sport sandals and canvas shoes you don't mind ruining are recommended. Also, loose-fitting, cotton clothing is your best bet.
Take the JazzFest Express. Parking near the festival grounds is limited and expensive, and waiting for taxis when the fest ends at 7 p.m. every night can be interminable. For $15-$19 a day, depending on where you catch the shuttle, you can enjoy air-conditioned transport into the festival gates. Tickets are available at www.ticketmaster.com or at departure locations. For details, go to www.graylineneworleans.com.
Scope out alternatives to the dreaded portable potty. Indoor, flush toilets are available in the Grandstand and truck trailers parked around the grounds.
Bring a collapsible camp chair with a shoulder strap. If you're flying into New Orleans, take your chair on the plane as a carry-on. Blankets are useless unless you want to be trampled.
Bring an empty, 12-pack size, soft-sided cooler. Most of the beer is sold by the can and vendors sell it in bulk, so you can stock up. Other alcoholic beverages for sale include wine and daiquiris.
Pack one factory-sealed bottle of water. That's the limit permitted, but you can refill it at watering stations and save on having to buy bottled water.
Carry sunscreen and a hat, and also a poncho. The weather can be fickle, but mostly expect it to be hot and humid.
Creature comforts go a long way. Wet wipes, travel tissues, hand sanitizer, bug spray and a small personal-size umbrella will likely come in handy at some point during the fest.
Bring lots of cash. Food and drink don't come cheap, and the vendors only take cash. But if you run out, don't fret. There are ATMs on the grounds.
For a full list of what you can and can't bring into the festival grounds, go to www.nojazzfest.com.
EVENT PREVIEW
New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. April 24-May 3. $58 advance, $70 at gate, per day. Fair Grounds Race Course, 1751 Gentilly Blvd., New Orleans. www.ticketmaster.com, www.nojazzfest.com.
EVENT PREVIEW
New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. April 24-May 3. $58 advance, $70 at gate, per day. Fair Grounds Race Course, 1751 Gentilly Blvd., New Orleans. www.ticketmaster.com, www.nojazzfest.com.
Every spring, droves of Atlantans make the annual pilgrimage to Louisiana for the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, including many of my friends. Every year, they beg me to go with them, but I always decline. The thought of tramping around in the heat all day, waiting in lines for food and drink and suffering the indignities of the portable potty is not my idea of fun.
But from the comfort of my air-conditioned home, I’d look at my friends’ photos on Facebook and feel a twinge of regret. Except for that year it was unseasonably cold and rainy, they always appeared to be having a blast. And the list of bands performing every year was staggering.
So this year, I’m making the leap. I’m going to JazzFest. I’ve booked my hotel (if you’re going, do it now if you haven’t already) and got my tickets (no rush, they don’t sell out). But I’m not leaving anything to chance. I want to make sure I get the most from the experience, so I’ve queried my veteran JazzFest friends, both here in Atlanta and New Orleans, as well as festival officials to get the lowdown.
The festival started in 1970 in Congo Square with Mahalia Jackson, Duke Ellington and the Eureka Brass Band. Today it spans seven days over two weekends, April 24-May 3, and takes place at the Fair Grounds Race Course, 10 minutes from the French Quarter.
It’s a daytime festival, beginning at 11 a.m. and ending at 7 p.m. And music may be the biggest draw, but it’s not the only attraction. There are also international and regional artisans, craft demonstrations, heritage exhibitions and food vendors galore. And when I say food vendors, I don’t mean pizza and burgers. We’re talking softshell crab po’boys, alligator pie and crawfish enchiladas.
But about the music, it’s not just jazz. Headliners this year include Elton John, Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett, the Who, T.I., Lenny Kravitz, No Doubt, Keith Urban, Pitbull and Jimmy Buffett.
But the one thing all JazzFest veterans say is that some of the best music you’ll hear is not from the big-name acts but the lesser-known ones you stumble upon among the festival’s 12 stages.
Here are seven acts, one for each day of the festival, that my insider intel tells me should not be missed.
Brass-a-Holics. The genre-busting New Orleans brass band adds drums, guitar and keyboards to give birth to a new genre they call Go-Go Brass Funk. April 24.
Lost Bayou Ramblers. Brothers Louis Michot (fiddle and vocals) and Andre Michot (accordion and lap steel) blend traditional acoustic Cajun music with modern sounds and rhythms. April 25.
Big Chief Monk Boudreaux and the Golden Eagles. A resplendent display of Mardi Gras Indian culture with a funky jazz beat. April 26.
Terrance Simien and the Zydeco Experience. Sitting still isn't an option in the presence of such high-energy zydeco music from this Grammy Award-winning band. April 30.
The Honorable South. Blending elements of indie rock and soul, the band is led by the charismatic Ms. Charm Taylor. May 1.
Helen Gillet. The classically trained cellist combines jazz, funk and rock into her eclectic improvisational performances. May 2.
Don Vappie and the Creole Jazz Serenaders. Traditional Creole jazz band led by a master banjo player. May 3.
About the Author
