Jazz Fest returns to New Orleans for 2022
Once silenced by the COVID-19 pandemic, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival opened 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.
“We’ve weathered a storm like no other,” declared lifelong New Orleans resident Jennifer Jones, referring to the pandemic. She was carrying a featheradorned parasol and strutting the grounds in an outfit of iridescent pinks, blues and yellows.
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.
“This lovely community, here in New Orleans, needs this festival,” visitor Garey Rosen said as he and a buddy snapped a selfie while “Jesus on the Main Line” blared from the festival’s Gospel tent. It was his seventh Jazz Fest for Rosen, who said he’s from New Jersey.
“Everybody here relies on this festival. And it is the best festival in the world,” Rosen said.
Lionel Richie and Death Cab for Cutie are among Friday’s draws at the festival that sprinkles numerous big-name entertainers throughout its run. 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 Hurricane 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.
“It was just incredible energy, like a pilgrimage,” Davis recalled Tuesday.
2020 marked the first time the festival had been canceled in its 50-year history, owing to COVID-19. “It was like a sword through the heart,” Davis said.