The party New Orleans is most famous for is Mardi Gras. The city’s second biggest excuse for revelry — better than Mardi Gras according to a multitude of fans — is the annual New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.
It’s a two-weekend affair that takes place the last weekend of April (it started Friday) and the first weekend in May (with four days in between to explore the nearby swamps and bayous, visit old plantation houses, or hear more music in the clubs). And for many, Jazz Fest has become as much about eating Louisiana’s famed food as the musical line-up.
The spirit of jazz was reputedly born in New Orleans, at Congo Square, a landmark now immortalized in the city’s Louis Armstrong Park. It was the only place African slaves could gather to play their music in the 18th and early 19th centuries. It’s where the jazz festival began in 1970 with 300 musicians.
The festival these days is held at the Fair Grounds Race Track, a bus ride from the French Quarter. Despite financial setbacks and hiccups in the weeks leading up to the 2009 festival, this year it’s back up to its full complement of 12 stages for the first year since Katrina — that’s up from nine last year, before that seven, and six in the wake of Katrina. "We have always found a way to do this, even through Katrina,” said Quint Davis, Jazz Fest’s producer and director.
2009 is The 40th Annual New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
Among the international line-up of hundreds of musicians taking to the 12 stages this year are Wynton Marsalis, the Dave Matthews Band, James Taylor, Aretha Franklin, Sugarland, Tony Bennett, The Neville Brothers, Bonnie Raitt, Jon Cleary (pictured below left), Emmylou Harris, Dr. John, Buddy Guy, Los Lobos, Allen Toussaint and — check out the complete line-up, when they'll play and on what stage, on the jazz fest Web site.
The music featured is about 20 percent jazz (traditional and contemporary). There’s also blues, gospel, rap, rock, Latin, bluegrass, zydeco and everything in between.
Music happens 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Traditional Jazz
At night you can go to any one of 50-plus clubs from the House of Blues to the Preservation Hall jazz club (bargain entry, no beverages allowed, to cram in and hear some of the best traditional jazz musicians in the world) and enjoy shows that start all the way through 2 a.m.
For something really wild try the Mid City Rock ‘n’ Bowl, four stages on two floors, rockabilly, red beans and rice, and 20 bowling alleys.
For many, Jazz Fest is as much about the food as it is the music, with more than 80 food stands and two food stages (check out the food stages on the jazz fest Web site).
"You have to eat first," said 11-year festival veteran Jeff Frost from Kansas City.
“I often begin by getting a soft-shell crab po-boy. Although that probably doesn’t sound like something everyone would want to eat at 11:00 in the morning, the soft-shell crab lines get very long so I recommend people go there first.”
Other foods he recommends are the Crawfish Monica, the Cuban sandwich, Boudin balls, crawfish sack, crab-stuffed shrimp 
and the muffuletta. “All of this can be expertly ingested with the just the right compliment of Rosemint or Mandarin Orange flavored (unsweetened) ice tea,” he says.
His wife, Dawn Messing, usually starts her day right off with an iced coffee drink from Café du Monde — there one at the grounds — and the white chocolate bread pudding.
“The thing about the food New Orleans Jazz Fest, I always tell people, is that there are at least 75 food booths (I counted once online) and there is not a burger or a hot dog among them. It’s the most unusual specific-to-the-region food extravaganza I’ve experienced anywhere in the United States.”
Her favorites include the spinach salad with fried oysters and blue cheese sprinkles, dressing with red onion; the combination plate of crawfish sack, oyster patties, crawfish beignets; and the spinach artichoke casserole.
“Most nights after the fest, Jeff and I go to Acme Oyster Co. in the French Quarter for a po-boy.”
Some N’Awlins Food Trivia:
Just so you know: Southern Comfort originated at McCauley’s tavern, just off Bourbon Street.
Abita is the local beer to try.
The flaming Bananas Foster originated at Brennan’s, in the French Quarter. (See the Brennan's Bananas Foster recipe below.)
According to legend, the cocktail was invented in the French Quarter in the mid-19th century.
Tabasco originated in New Orleans in the 1860s.
The po-boy is New Orleans own sandwich — crusty French bread flanks fried oysters, shrimp, soft-shell crab or roast beef and turkey ‘debris’ — what falls off during the roasting. Join the long line outside Mother's or try the Acme Oyster House for good value.
If you have a big budget, Galatoires on Bourbon Street (jacket required) was 100 years old in 2005 and a New Orleans institution for fine dining. The city is one of the top in the U.S. for dining. Oh, and prepare to eat alligator fresh from the swamps.
Some people book accommodation for the jazz festival and Mardi Gras up to a year in advance. But it’s never too late. Check out next weekend’s New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival line-up, accommodation options and airline specials.
Click here for Brannan's Bananas Foster recipe.
Copyright: W. Hennig 2009
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