French Quarter Fest 2023 – Sunday

It was cool and breezy for the day of the 40th French Quarter Fest (FQF), perfect for picnicking and dancing to local favorites. We started behind the Old U.S. Mint with Happy Talk Band. We’re used to seeing young people join the ranks of our city’s bands to learn from their elders, but the 10-year-old son of one of the band members truly held his own on keyboards. It was impressive.

Afterward, we tried the Cochon King BBQ Brisket Burnt Ends and got a box of Original “Yellow Bag” Crawfish 5lb Combo ($30) from Louisiana Fish Fry with NOLA Crawfish King – my first crawfish of the season.

My friend, Louis Sahuc’s wonderful photo gallery on Jackson Square closed after his passing, but his work lives on in a new 2-room location at 317 Exchange Place. We dropped in for the opening and were offered drinks and French Quarter stories as we celebrated Louis’ work. Then it was back to the music!

French Quarter Fest 2023 – Friday

French Quarter Fest (FQF) expands on Fridays to more of the eventual 20 stages of indigenous music and 60 local food booths scattered throughout the historic Vieux Carre. My favorite festival of the year, FQF is also one of the city’s most profitable – generating an economic impact of $190 million in 2019. We started our day at the Abita Stage with Big Chief Bo Dollis Jr. & the Wild Magnolias singing local favorites, some wearing their beaded and feathered Mardi Gras Indian suits.

We’d been intrigued by the offerings from fest-newcomer, Monday, since spotting their sign yesterday promising – Whole Snapper (deep fried)

French Quarter Fest 2023 – Thurs.

My favorite festival of the year,  French Quarter Fest, (FQF) is celebrating its 40th year.  With over 20 stages of indigenous music and over 60 local food booths, locals and visitors can enjoy the best of our city’s offerings. After wandering across the Quarter checking out this year’s dishes, we started our day with the Walker’s Southern Style BBQ Cochon de Lait Po-Boy ($12). I’m not normally a sandwich fan and prefer Po-Boys even less, but we usually get 2 to 4 of the pulled pork and cole slaw Po-Boys before the fest ends.

Kermit Ruffins and the Barbecue Swingers were on the Abita Stage

French Quarter Fest 2022 – Sun.

The 4 days of French Quarter Fest came to a close on Sunday. Employing over 1,700 local musicians, the fest features genres from funk, R&B and jazz to rock, gospel and Zydeco. Over 1,500 volunteers and a variety of local companies handling sanitation, security, stages, sound, etc. insure that all of the money spent producing the festival remains within the local economy.

We started the day with Shrimp Ragivote over Fried Green Tomato ($9) from Tujague’s Restaurant.

French Quarter Fest 2022 – Sat.

Saturday is always the busiest day of the 4-day French Quarter Fest. All of the 20 stages and 50+ food booths were open and crowded. We started with the quieter sounds of Sarah Quintana before moving on to rocking and rolling with Irene Sage Band. When it comes to covers of anything by Stevie Nicks or Fleetwood Mac, Irene Sage is still the only singer that fills me with joy. 

Big Chief Monk Boudreaux & the Golden Eagles filled the big stage with beaded and feathered Mardi Gras Indian suits. I especially loved the Big Chief’s rendition of Indian Red.

Lunch was another Cochon de Lait Po-Boy ($12) from Walker’s Southern Style BBQ – one of my favorite fest foods.

French Quarter Fest, etc. And Coronavirus

As I mentioned in my last post, New Orleans has been staying home since before St. Patrick’s Day and it’s been a huge adjustment for this community-oriented tourist destination. This time of year, there are well-attended festivals and second line parades every week. The constant flow of visitors and convention attendees fill our hotels and flood our streets, restaurants, bars, parks and venues. I’ve accepted the loss of it all fairly well but today would’ve been the first day of my favorite festival of the year, French Quarter Fest.

French Quarter Fest Sunday

French Quarter Fest ended with a cool and breezy day perfect for picnicking and dancing to local favorites. We started early at Jackson Square with a refreshing Crab & Artichoke Citrus Salad ($8) from Jaques-Imo’s Cafe then beat the lines for Muriel’s Crawfish & Goat Cheese Crepe ($7). Keyboardist Kashonda Bailey of the all-female Pinettes Brass Band had let us know she’d be playing with MainLine so we made our way toward the stage near the Aquarium to check them out.

French Quarter Fest – Sunday

The 35th annual French Quarter Fest was rained out Saturday, which is a crying shame. Many of the biggest acts were set for that day including Grammy-winners, Rebirth Brass Band. It was supposed to be a day of having to make hard choices about what to miss, but a massive storm wiped the day away.

Sunday was sunny, windy and super-chilly (50’s).  Sarah Quintana’s teeth were chattering and her trumpet player was trying to keep at least one hand warm enough to play. But Sarah Quintana (with her nightingale’s voice) and the Miss River Band managed to put on a beautiful show. Bruce Sunpie Barnes joined

French Quarter Fest – Thurs.

With over 20 stages of regional music and MANY local food booths throughout the Quarter, French Quarter Fest (FQF) is easily my favorite fest of the year – which in saying something in a city with literally hundreds of annual festivals. This is the Fest’s 35th year and things keep getting bigger and more crowded, but it’s still free and that’s amazing. The weather was perfect – upper 70’s, breezy and sunny. The Irene Sage Band was playing Led Zeppelin when we arrived. I’ve written them into my next Charlotte Reade Mystery so it was a fun way to start the day. 

French Quarter Fest – Sunday

The last day of French Quarter Fest was just as gorgeous as the first 3. Sadly, for locals, the day started with the sad news that former Saint, Will Smith, had been shot 7 times leaving 3 children and a wife (who sustained 2 shots) behind. He had posted on Instagram, “Having a blast at the #fqf2016” earlier. Many of us wore Saints gear and checked for updates as the story evolved from one of random violence to something more thought-out and personal.

As for festing, we started the day with a Softshell Crab Po-Boy ($10) from Jack Dempsey’s then tried Love at First Bite’s Crawfish Pasta ($8) and my favorite, the Cochon de Lait Po-Boy ($8) from their partner, Walker’s Southern Style BBQ. We hit the Abita stage in time for party-band, the Bucktown All-Stars. Their playful covers included “Rubber Band Man” complete with a dance of silly, stretchy  poses. 85 year old Joyce La Nasa joined on tambourine wearing her signature white gloves.