Category: Festivals

13th annual Creepy Fest punk and metal shows slated for July 21 – 24, includes Lower Decatur Street venues

(Photo: Screenshot | luvispro | YouTube)
The annual punk and metal festival known as Creepy Fest is slated for a four-day period in July this year, including at venues in and just beyond the French Quarter, and elsewhere in New Orleans.

Now in its 13th year, the festival will be held July 21-24. Organized by New Orleans independent punk music label Sheer Terror Records, bands usually include mostly local and Gulf Coast region bands, although T.S.O.L, Dead Boys, The Offenders, 45 Grave, Submachine Lydia Lunch and other bands have played.

Also, the festival incorporates horror movies, skateboarding and burlesque events and other forms of entertainment.

According to the festival’s social media profile, Creepy Fest showcases the do-it-yourself ascetic and is “all about having fun and forgetting the bullshit for a while.”

This year’s festival will include a variety of punk, hardcore and experimental bands. While the venue list was provided, Sheer Terror has yet to release a final confirmed list of bands.

Thursday, July 21, 1606 Pleasure St.
An all-ages skatepark show will feature 10 bands on two stages, plus artists and vendors of all kinds at Parisite Skatepark. Five punk bands will perform under the bridge and in the back peach orchid area there will be a grindcore tribute to Hollise Murphy, the singer for Fat Stupid Ugly People, who passed away at the age of 36 in 2021. Show starts at 6 p.m.

Friday, July 22, Lower Decatur Street
One Eyed Jacks and Santos, located at 1104 and 1135 Decatur Streets, respectively, will be “full on blasting” with bands from 8 p.m. until 2 a.m.

Saturday, July 23, Saint Bernard Avenue
Poor Boys, The Goat and Sidney’s Saloon — located at 1328, 1301 and 1200 Saint Bernard Ave., respectively — all located within a two block radius and will host at least a total of 20 bands. Food will be available to purchase from the Green Room and pop ups. There will be one cover charge to access every show. Music starts at 6 p.m.

Sunday, July 24, 3000 Dryades St.
An early show that will be held starting 3 p.m. at Portside Lounge, described as Central City’ “coolest punk tiki bar.” Crawfish will be available but only if the season runs late, like last year.

If Portside Lounge doesn’t have enough music on Sunday to satisfy you, then you may want to consider seeing the Circle Jerks, 7 Seconds and Negative Approach at Tipitina’s, located at 501 Napoleon Ave.

Where to watch a Creepy Fest 2019 show in the French Quarter

French Quarter Fest returns April 21

(Photo: Mark Gstohl | CC Flickr)
French Quarter Festival will return to New Orleans this April after a two-year hiatus due to COVID-19, according to nonprofit officials earlier this month.

Emily Madero, president and CEO of French Quarter Festival Inc. nonprofit, said during a press conference held Feb. 15 at the Omni Royal Hotel that the event will will make its return starting April 21.

The nonprofit, which also manages Satchmo Summerfest, announced the cancelation of both festivals for the year in May 2020, citing direction of city officials over safety concerns due to the coronavirus.

Plans to restart the festivals in 2021 were also scrapped because of the coronavirus.

In her remarks, Madero recognized state and city officials for their guidance and support through the pandemic, including New Orleans District C City Council Council member Freddie King III, whose district includes the French Quarter and who provided some brief statements at the press conference.

“The economic impact to this city, to this district can’t be stated enough,” King said, referring to the “several hundred millions” of dollars the festival contributes to the local economy. “It’s very much needed and definitely at this time.”

More than 1800 local musicians across multiple genres — including Latin, gospel, blues and jazz — are slated to preform across more than 20 stages over the four-day festival, according to Madero.

French Quarter Festival started in 1984 after the World’s Fair as a way to attract more people to the neighborhood. In 2019, the festival generated $190 million for the local economy, including $15 million in tax revenue, according to its website.

For more information, visit frenchquarterfest.org.

2-day Satchmo Summerfest begins tomorrow as coronavirus cases increase

(Photo: Zack Smith | Courtesy of Satchmo Summerfest)
A two-day festival honoring the late Louis Armstrong starts tomorrow in the French Quarter even as officials warn against increased cases of a contagious COVID-19 variant.

The festival begins at noon at the New Orleans Jazz Museum, located at 400 Esplanade Ave. and will feature two stages with live music and a half dozen local restaurant vendors.

A festival launch party kicks off Friday from 7 to 9 p.m. aboard the Riverboat Louis Armstrong. Tickets for the event, which cost $50, are no longer for sale online.

The festival is named after Armstrong, a New Orleans influential jazz trumpeter, who was nicknamed “satchel mouth” due to his large mouth and coincides with his Aug. 4, 1901 birthday. Armstrong died in 1971 at 69 years old.

Last year’s Satchmo Summerfest was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Organizers in June announced the return of the festival would return in July and as cases of the coronavirus continued to drop following vaccination efforts.

Daily new infections were as high as 581 in Orleans Parish in January, but steadily declined and remained relatively stable at about just over 100 cases or below from the end of February until the beginning of July, when they began creeping up, according to health data as recent as Friday.

New infections per day surged to 693 on July 26 and have slowly declined to 393 on July 30, data show.

Officials are attributing rise of infections to the emergence of the coronavirus’ delta variant, a mutated version of the disease which was first detected in India December 2020 and is more contagious, although vaccines have been shown to be effective against the variant, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Organizers said the festival will operate under coronavirus guidelines provided by New Orleans officials and the CDC, including mask wearing.

Festival tickets at the door are $10. The festival ends at 8 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 1. More information on the festival’s events can be found on social media.

On July 21, New Orleans health officials issued an advisory asking residents to wear masks indoors to prevent the increase of daily infections, which they are attributing to unvaccinated people.

Satchmo Summerfest returns to the New Orleans Mint on August 2

French Market Creole Tomato Festival resumes one year after COVID-19 pandemic

(Photo: Creole Tomato Festival in 2011. | Reading Tom | CC Flickr)
The 2021 Creole Tomato Festival kicked-off Saturday for a one-day free event in the French Quarter with second line parades, live music and vendors.

Now in its 35th year, the festival began 11 a.m. at the French Market located in the 1000 block of North Peters Street and ends at 4 p.m.

Last year’s festival was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This year’s festival included a blend of in-person and virtual events.

The festival started Saturday with a the Ripe & Ready Secondline parade, which started at Washington Artillery Park and proceeded to the French Market, and included performances by the Yellow Pochahontas Black Masking Indians Second Line Social Aid and Pleasure Club, the Black Storyville Baby Dolls, New Orleans Brass Band and the NOLA Chorus Girls.

The festival recognizes the “Creole tomato”, which is technically not a single kind of tomato, but is more akin to a branding term.

Farmers in St. Bernard and Plaquemines parishes would let their tomatoes vine-ripen and grow in a rich alluvial soil, which created a unique flavor distinguished from other Louisiana- and U.S.-grown tomatoes, according to Kathryn Fontenot, writing for the Louisiana State University AgCenter.

The farmers planted several varieties, but labeled them “Creole” tomatoes despite the inconsistency, Fontenot added. Saving the seeds was a common practice among farmers and gardeners, who’d pass on the seeds to other people.

To make things even more confusing, LSU researcher Teme Hernandez developed a variety in 1969, which he named the Creole tomato and was not commonly grown in St. Bernard and Plaquemines parishes, according to Fontenot.

The variety is described as medium-sized, deep-red with some resistance to fusarium wilt, or a fungal vascular disease that infects certain plants, including tomatoes and eggplants, turning their leaves brown and necrotic.

The AgCenter, however, did not maintain a seed stock of Creole tomato and so now the term generally describes any tomato grown in Louisiana, according to Fontenot.

At the time of this writing, one hour of the festival remains. In addition to the second line and music performances, George’s Produce will be selling fresh Creole tomatoes.

Official festival t-shirts, Bloody Marys and art will be available to buy from vendors located in Dutch Alley located in the 900 block of North Peters Street.

In addition, the New Orleans Jazz Museum located at 400 Esplanade Ave. is hosting the NOLA Zydeco Fest.