NEW ORLEANS — In the same week, the mayor of New Orleans recommended large festivals cancel any plans for the rest of the year, one of the city’s largest, Jazz Fest, made its cancellation official. That leaves musicians and vendors a bit bummed out, but hopeful of what’s to come.
“I do alligator sauce piquante, shrimp and okra gumbo and shrimp and grits,” said Mike Gowland as he talked about his anticipated menu as a Jazz Fest food vendor.
This would typically be about the time Gowland makes any last-minute adjustments to that menu.
“Then we have a kids booth,” Gowland said. “We roast corn on the cob right in the husk out there.”
In what would have been his 20th year at Jazz Fest, those adjustments aren’t happening, because the festival is no longer on the menu.
“Jazz Fest is huge to me. I usually get a little choked up because it’s a family thing,” Gowland said.
That family thing is a tradition of having kids and grandkids help serve up all that distinctly New Orleans cuisine.
“You’re working hard, you’re representing the city, representing what you do in what everybody wants to do in food, make people happy,” Gowland said.
In New Orleans, happiness often comes from food and music.
“We were scheduled to play the same day as Elvis Costello and Jon Batiste and we were looking forward to that day,” said Ben Jaffe, director of Preservation Hall and member of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band.
Jaffe says not having Jazz Fest can make the city feel a little off rhythm.
“For someone who’s from here, not having music, live music, it’s emotionally painful,” Jaffe said.
While there will be financial impacts because of these locked gates, musicians and vendors are looking forward to next year, when they reopen, to celebrate a culture they love.
For Gowland, that means making sure the main ingredients, family and friends are in place.
“It means a lot more in that respect than it does financially,” Gowland said.
Jaffe hopes the cancellation will bring about a high note, making the community stronger than ever.
“We just have to start looking at 2021 and making 2021 bigger and better than ever,” Jaffe said. “We’re rolling up our sleeves, digging in our heels and we’re going to be New Orleans strong.”
An emergency relief fund was set up at Preservation Hall for musicians who play there. The venue typically has late-night jam sessions during Jazz Fest which has turned into its largest fundraiser of the year. It’s known as “Midnight Preserves,” benefiting students and musicians across the city.
While Jaffe says the financial impacts are severe, he understands what’s at stake.
“These are difficult decisions to make, heart wrenching decisions,” Jaffe said. “They’re painful, but they’re made for the right reasons.”
RELATED: Jazz Fest cancels 2020 event
► Get breaking news from your neighborhood delivered directly to you by downloading the new FREE WWL-TV News app now in the IOS App Store or Google Play.
