Echoes of 2006: Jazz Fest returns to New Orleans for 2022
ABC News
After being silenced by the COVID-19 pandemic, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival is returning for the first time in three years
NEW ORLEANS -- Once silenced by the pandemic, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival opens Friday for the first time in three years — a long awaited 2022 revival that holds echoes of 2006 when the annual celebration of music and culture went on even after Hurricane Katrina.
The two-weekend production draws tens of thousands to the city's Fair Grounds Race Course, where as many as 80 musical acts perform daily on more than a dozen stages, complemented by art and craft exhibits and an array of booths featuring foods from Louisiana and beyond.
Lionel Richie and Death Cab for Cutie are among Friday's draws. The Who headlines Saturday; the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Sunday. But the festival may be best known for showcasing a dizzying array of Louisiana musical talent, styles and genres — jazz, blues, Cajun, Zydeco and more.
Organizers pulled off the April 2006 show eight months after levees failed and the city flooded during Katrina, and as debris and water-damaged houses still marred the landscape. Longtime festival producer Quint Davis recounts two strong emotional memories from that festival: Bruce Springsteen bringing the local crowd to tears singing “My City of Ruins” to close the first weekend, and the joy at having crowds line up at the gates on opening day.
