NEW ORLEANS — We are in the heart of what should be the New Orleans festival season.
This week should have been French Quarter Festival followed by two consecutive weeks of Jazz Fest.
Both have now been postponed until this fall.
Public health experts are concerned fall may be too soon to allow tens of thousands of people to gather in such close proximity.
“It breaks my heart to think about not having all of the festivals that we had hoped just going to be delayed to the fall, but the reality is that would again provide an opportunity for mixing of individuals from perhaps a very broad scope of geographic regions that maybe all at different phases of their COVID experience at that point in time,” Epidemiologist Susan Hassig, from the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine said.
Mayor LaToya Cantrell weighed in on Tuesday, saying that she believes no large events should be held in New Orleans for the rest of the year.
"My recommendation is absolutely no large events such as French Quarter Fest and Jazz Fest, even Essence Festival (in 2020)," Cantrell said. "The focus should shift to 2021."
The Mayor said she's spoken with festival organizers and expects an official announcement to come soon.
Speaking on the WWL-TV Eyewitness Morning News, LSU Health infectious disease specialist Dr. Fred Lopez said the virus will still be here.
“It’s not going away,” Lopez said. “It may come in a second wave in the fall. We need to be prepared, hopefully with an effective vaccine and with some treatments that are reliably effective.”
Times Picayune/New Orleans Advocate entertainment writer Keith Spera said it seems unnatural not to have festivals in New Orleans.
“After Katrina, coming together at a festival was a good thing,” Spera said. “That was a way to fight back against the isolation and the devastation of Katrina. But, with this thing, the Coronavirus pandemic, gathering together is the exact opposite. It’s the last thing you want to be doing.”
New Orleans and Company Senior VP Mark Romig is optimistic, but he’s not sure at this point whether major events will return to the city this year.
“I think it’s still fluid as to what the decisions will be at the time,” Romig said. “The key is to get to the other side of this, obviously, to make sure everybody can be in a healthy environment.”
Romig added, the decision to hold the festivals will be made in consultation with federal, state and local officials.
“Certainly, these decisions will be made with the guidelines presented on what is right and healthy for our citizens and our visitors," Romig said.
The festivals are now waiting on that guidance before announcing any additional plans.
“They want them to happen,” Spera said. “It’s important for the city that they happen. But, the state of the pandemic will determine, I guess whether or not they do.”
Spera added, there’s no doubt all of the major festival producers are keeping their fingers crossed that the fall clears up enough for them to go on.
“As we’ve seen so far, the ground shifts so frequently and quickly with this thing that you don’t really know,” Spera said.
One thing that is clear, cancellations and postponements are having a devastating impact on the local economy.
About half of the city’s tax revenue is somehow tied to the New Orleans tourism and hospitality industry.
The industry also accounts for about 90,000 jobs. Many of those hospitality workers have been furloughed or laid off because of the COVID outbreak and the state’s stay at home order that closed restaurant dining rooms and bars.
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