Festival Season

Like it or not, the warm weather is here to stay in New Orleans.  That means that summer is around the corner, but before we have to max out air conditioners – there’s a period of a few weeks in South Louisiana now known as Festival Season.

First, there was Jazz Fest – one of the biggest music festivals in the country.  It’s always held on the last weekend of April and the first weekend of May.  The musical lineup is not limited to Jazz artists – Willie Nelson and Bon Jovi are among this year’s headliners.  Also wedged in April is French Quarter Fest.  It’s a newer festival that features a number of free stages scattered across the French Quarter.  This has become my favorite New Orleans festival because the weather is almost always gorgeous and it’s still mostly a regional, less crowded festival.

This weekend, I got to check out two of the smaller neighborhood festivals that are all over the city – and they were both within walking distance of my house.  The Freret Street Festival lined a street near Tulane’s campus that’s seeing a resurgence of local businesses.  It was very much a neighborhood affair.  Also this weekend, the nearby French Immersion school had a great festival with local French chefs preparing delicacies street-side.

Festival Season = a tough time to write a 10 page paper about our China trip (which I’m doing right now.)

Louis David