No burgers but plenty of crawfish at this iconic New Orleans music festival
Entertainment
Davis also urges attendees to come hungry
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival kicks off on Thursday, bringing together a smorgasbord of the city’s most iconic homegrown artists for the next two weeks.
The festival, which draws hundreds of thousands of attendees, began in 1970 as a homage to the sounds of the birthplace of jazz and other genres with deep regional roots: blues, gospel, folk, Cajun zydeco and more. It now covers a wide range of music — headliners include Pearl Jam and Lenny Kravitz alongside hometown favorites like Lil Wayne — but remains focused on celebrating local artists and culture.
“We started out to reflect New Orleans to the world but now it’s just as much a part of New Orleans as Mardi Gras,” said Quint Davis, the festival’s longtime producer.
Davis also urges attendees to come hungry — the local flavors served up by festival celebrate the city’s renowned cuisine just as much as its music.
What’s the big deal about the food?
For some attendees, Davis says, the festival’s world-class musicians provide a soundtrack for their first priority: getting their hands on the delicious Cajun and Creole meals — from pheasant, quail and andouille gumbo to pecan catfish meunière and alligator sausage — served by local vendors.
Most of the nearly 70 different vendors have been part of the festival for several decades and “perfected their craft,” said Michelle Nugent, the festival’s food director.
“The menu we feature you can’t find anywhere else,” Nugent said. “Everything is hand-made and home-cooked.”
Robert Harrison III carries on the legacy of his late mother’s bakery, Loretta’s Pralines, which sells chocolate, rum and coconut pralines, along with a fan favorite that mixes pralines with a deep-fried dough pastry known as a beignet.
“The praline beignet — my mom was a genius for this: she took two New Orleans products that were just so French and she mashed them together,” Harrison III said. He and his staff have spent weeks preparing thousands of pralines for the festival: “It’s something that you have to love to do — my Mom loved to do it and we do too.”
