French Quarter Fest Friday 2019

French Quarter Fest is easily my favorite festival of the year, which is saying something since we have hundreds of them. With over 20 stages playing indigenous music and 60 local food booths, the festival employs over 1,700 local musicians playing genres from funk, R&B and jazz to rock, gospel and Zydeco. The over 1,500 volunteers and various local companies handling sanitation, security, stages, sound, etc. and more insure that all of the money spent producing the festival remains within the local economy.

I was working on a TV show Thursday so I missed the first day of festivities – which really hurt when I saw the tailor-made-for-me music line up. We started Friday with the Soul Rebels. The fun and funky brass band

Irma Thomas at Wednesday at the Square

This is my 10th year enjoying the  Young Leadership Council‘s  Wednesday at the Square music series in Lafayette Square. We’re so spoiled for music here that I’ve had the pleasure of seeing Grammy-winner  Irma Thomas perform dozens of times. We got a bunch of yummy food from the booths and hung out with friends while the “The Soul Queen of New Orleans” took the stage with her band, The Professionals .

Irma Thomas – Oyster Fest Day 2

“Soul Queen of New Orleans,” Irma Thomas, took the stage to end the 2nd annual Oyster Fest. Though it was cooler than Day 1, I sincerely hope that the organizers find their way to Armstrong Park or some other grassy field before next year. Even with cloudy skies and the sun setting, heat radiated from the blacktop. But, the large crowd (and DancingMan504) could have cared less – Irma was going to sing us off the surface of the sun and into the heavens and we couldn’t wait.