NEW ORLEANS — Another difficult call – in difficult times.
The French Quarter Festival presented by Chevron, the largest free music festival in the south has now canceled for a second year in a row as the coronavirus surges to record numbers in Louisiana.
It joins a growing list of major events in the New Orleans area now looking forward to next year.
“With lots of consultation from our local and state health officials and with an understanding of the severe healthcare crisis and the rise of Covid cases here in New Orleans and our region, we just realized it was not going to be possible for us to host our event as we planned,” FQF President and CEO Emily Madero said. “While we are very saddened by this cancelation, we know it’s in the best interest of our guests, our city and the state of Louisiana.”
More than 800,000 people come to New Orleans every year for French Quarter Fest.
Producers had already postponed the annual spring event to September 30 - October 2.
Big Chief Bo Dollis Jr and the Wild Magnolias were set to headline the festival this year.
“After Jazz fest canceled and a few other festivals, I knew French Quarter wasn’t going to be too far behind,” Dollis said. “It was a hurtful feeling because it’s like one of my favorites that I love to play every year.”
Dollis agrees the festival made the right decision, given how quickly the coronavirus is now spreading.
“If one person would have had it, that would have affected the whole crowd,” Dollis said. “That would have been a real travesty because people would have been dying or sick or anything.”
The New Orleans Jazz Museum at the old U.S. Mint anchors the Esplanade Avenue side of French Quarter Fest with two stages.
Museum Director Greg Lambousy says Covid has dealt another major blow to the city’s cultural economy.
“These are events that we look forward to all year long,” Lambousy said. “Not only because their fun, but because they bring visitation in, it helps increase awareness about the museum.”
Before Covid, French Quarter Fest brought in about a quarter of his visitors, Lambousy added.
“It’s definitely a major PR piece, getting the word out about the museum, about the programming that we have here.”
Chevron announced it will provide relief payments for roughly 1500 musicians and gig workers who lost work because of the festival’s cancellation.
“We had all been looking forward to a really robust festival season and the musicians who have not had the live performances and the weekly gigs that really sustain them here locally are critical for us to support through this time period,” Madero said.
French Quarter Fest now looks forward to celebrating next spring as it returns to the stage April 21-24, 2022.
Here's what organizers said
French Quarter Festivals, Inc. (FQFI) announces that plans to host the French Quarter Festival presented by Chevron, scheduled for September 30 - October 2, will no longer be moving forward.
As the state of Louisiana and our nation see a precipitous rise in COVID cases, we must put the health, safety and wellbeing of our entire family first—our fans, musicians, staff, volunteers, sponsors, and partners, as well as the residents and businesses in the French Quarter.
It is with great sadness that we must cancel French Quarter Festival 2021 but look forward to celebrating next spring as we return to the stage April 21-24, 2022.
“After careful consideration and with consultation from a host of experts including City and State officials, we concluded this was the best decision for the safety and security of our community,” says Emily Madero, CEO of French Quarter Festivals, Inc. “We share the heartbreak this announcement brings to our fans, musicians, food vendors, and our broader community and we look forward to returning stronger together April 21-24, 2022 for French Quarter Festival!”
French Quarter Festivals, Inc. is committed to contributing to the resilience of our city and to bringing back the largest showcase of Louisiana music, food and culture next spring.
With the welcomed support of our presenting partner, Chevron, we’re pleased to announce that we will be providing critical relief payments for roughly 1,500 musicians and gig workers who lost work due to our 2021 festival cancellation.
“We thank the French Quarter Festival team for putting the safety of the public first and for quickly developing this special program,” said Leah Brown, Public Affairs Manager for Chevron’s Gulf of Mexico Business Unit. “This initiative will offer some financial support to local musicians and the gig community who have brought great joy to the people of the Crescent City. We hope our funding will assist these incredible artists during this challenging time. Chevron looks forward to continuing our long-standing sponsorship of French Quarter Festival and celebrating at the in-person event when it can be safely held in the future.”
We will continue to assess our ever-changing environment and apply the many lessons we have learned over the last two years to all of our 2022 events, including French Quarter Festival, Satchmo SummerFest, and Holidays New Orleans Style.
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