Creole Tomato Fest, Naked Bike Ride and Festigals Parade (R-rated)

What a busy weekend in the French Quarter! The 29th French Market Creole Tomato Fest fed us music and delicious dishes all weekend while the women of Festigals partied and paraded and the World Naked Bike Ride rolled past bewildered tourists.

We started Saturday at the Creole Tomato Fest with my annual favorite, Sliced Creole tomato with lump crab and Remoulade dressing  ($7) from George’s Produce. Good thing because they sold out early. Paul Sanchez and his all female band played while we tried the  gator sausage and tomatoes ($7) from A Bite Outside, Who Dat Coffee Cafe‘s delicious Remoulade tossed with boiled shrimp with Creole tomato slices and a salad garnish ($7) and yummy Crawfish beignets with roasted corn and Creole tomato sauce ($6) from J’s Seafood Dock.

Jazz Fest from a Distance

The 45th New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival started last weekend treating hundreds of thousands of guests to artisan booths and demonstrations, fest food and cooking demonstrations, pop-up book and CD stores, interviews with musicians and, of course, over a dozen stages playing up to 8 shows each a day. I think that comes out to somewhere around 400 different concerts over the course of 2 weekends all on the Fair Grounds Race Course. But what if you couldn’t get here? Or what if you’re one of the locals fed up with yet another price hike? (It’s up to $65/day at the door now). You may not be able to eat the food or watch the Mardi Gras Indians parading past, but you can still hear Jazz Fest in a number of ways.

Po-Boy Fest 2011

Sunday was the 5th Annual Po-Boy Festival and the second time I attended. Located on Oak Street in Uptown, the festival stretches from Carrolton to the levee and features 3 music stages, an arts and crafts alley for early holiday shopping, dancing lessons for kids with DancingMan504, a book fair, a dunking booth and a cornucopia of Po-Boys to choose from. Though there were booths featuring everything from Bacon Fried Hot Dogs to Paté and Pickled Veggies, the Po-Boy was king for a day with restaurants from all over the city bringing their best interpretations to sell and compete.