Introduction

The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival happens every year on the last weekend in April and the first weekend in May.  Since 1996 I have gone to Jazzfest every other year, in the even-numbered years.

Jazzfest is held on two consecutive weekends, from Friday through Sunday on the first weekend, and from Thursday through Sunday on the second (for a couple of years after Hurricane Katrina they eliminated the second Thursday, but they added it again this year). The festival itself is held at the fairgrounds. There are several stages, all playing different types of music: traditional jazz, modern jazz, cajun and zydeco, blues, gospel, rock, etc. I spent most of my time in Economy Hall, which is the traditional jazz venue (this is the type of music I love the most). There are also food vendors, artists, traditional craftspeople, souvenir vendors, CD and book sales, and more.

Jazzfest runs from 11 AM to 7 PM each day, which allows plenty of time to go into the city. In addition, Monday through Wednesday are "off days" when those who stay for both weekends (as I did) can see more of New Orleans.

I have divided my pictures into small groups to make them easier to browse. Each link on the left will take you to a group of seven to thirty-five pictures. I reduced the size of the pictures to make them load faster - they aren't quite as detailed as the originals, but with over 380 shots I wanted to be sure people didn't get frustrated with load times. The first seven links lead to pictures of bands I saw at Jazzfest. If you get tired of looking at musicians, I suggest skipping down to "Second Line - Part 1."