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With food booths lined
up around Jackson Square
smelling of spicy Cajun
dishes and stages
throughout the French
Quarter featuring
musicians belting out
everything from jazz to
brass band, the swollen river
was the last thing from
festival-goers minds.
And celebrate they did.
French Quarter
Festivals, Inc. (FQFI)
President Janice Foulks
said the event saw
record attendance over
previous years.
“The streets were
absolutely jammed
packed. We know we had
435,000-plus – a great
plus. I think what’s
significant in this
number is we had a
population that’s all
ages.” Though an exact
number isn’t known
because the festival is
free to the public and
counters weren’t used to
track attendance, the
healthy showing was
about 35,000 more than
last year. Foulks said
the festival was a good
opportunity to get
“people back into the
heart of the city.”
“It’s not just a
festival that’s off
somewhere – it’s
instilled and engrained
in the heart of our
city. People flow into
our restaurants, they
flow into our shops.
They can shop, they can
eat, they can drink.”
In a post-Katrina
economic climate, having
that kind of support is
important.
“It lets the world know
we’re alive and well,”
Foulks said. And growing
isn’t far from organizers’ minds; already
planning has begun for next year’s French
Quarter Fest.
“We certainly want to
grow, but also the
quality of what we have
has to be paramount,”
Foulks added.
Over 1,000 volunteers,
more than 750 local
musicians and 65-plus
food and drink vendors
helped make the 25th
French Quarter Festival
a success. The three-day
event stretched throughout most of the
historic neighborhood, with
food and drink vendors
in Jackson Square, and
music stages in the
Square, on Bourbon and
Royal Streets and along
the Mississippi River
waterfront.
The event is
self-sustaining through
sponsorship,
participation fees and
onsite beverage and
merchandise sales.
According to a
University of New
Orleans study of the
2007 French Quarter
Fest, the projected
economic impact of last
year’s festival was $118
million, with state and
local tax revenues of
more than $7.8 million.
Ann Wills, a board
member of FQFI, said the
annual festival was
“great for moral.”
“People just feel like it’s there festival,”
Wills said. After Katrina, the French
Quarter Festival was able to come back in
2006, though smaller. Today, the growth is
obvious, she adds.
“We came back and we
came back strong,” said
Wills.
History
Both the French Quarter
and the festival with
its namesake are steeped
in local lore and New
Orleans history.
The French Quarter, also
known as the Vieux Carre
(“Old Square” in
French), was once the
heart of the city. Since
New Orlean’s founding in
1718, the cityscape
slowly spread westward,
leaving its oldest
neighborhood snug
against the banks of the
river.
The buildings here,
their French and Spanish
influence seen in the
pastel hues and stucco
siding, date mainly back
to the 1800s and 1900s
after two fires ravaged
the area in 1788 and
1794.
Lafitte’s Blacksmith
Shop on Bourbon Street
was one of the few
buildings in the area to
survive both fires. The
French
architectural-style
building, built sometime
around 1772, now
operates as a bar and
restaurant.
Tour guide Brandon McAcy
said the French Quarter
is home to many
celebrities too,
including Brad Pitt and
Angelina Jolie, Laurence
Fishburne and Lenny
Kravitz.
The French Quarter
Festival itself began in
1983 when a group of
civic leaders came up
with the idea to promote
extensive street and
sidewalk repairs that
had enveloped the French
Quarter in preparation
for the World’s Fair. It
was an opportunity to
show-off an area that
had seen decline,
beginning in the late
1800s through the early
20th century.
But even with all its
pomp, the French Quarter
Fest still doesn’t stand
up to New Orleans’
numero uno celebration.
“Ï tell you what, this
is nothing compared to
Mardi Gras,” McAcy
warned visitors.
No visit to New Orleans
would be complete
without stopping by one
of the city’s unique
cemeteries, where the
dead sleep above ground,
not below. St. Louis Cemetery No.
1, the city’s oldest
cemetery, is just
outside of the French
Quarter and home to both
the famous and infamous,
including “Voodoo Queen”
Marie Laveau, who lived
from 1801-1881. Her tomb
is marked by triple-Xs
from visitors hoping Laveau’s spirit will
grant them a wish. Gatekeeper Justin Hughes
said people often pay
tribute to Laveau by
leaving objects like
money and cell phones.
“She was one of the few
people that not only had
the biggest séances in
the country, but she
would hex people in
public,” said Hughes.
“She would make people
drop (dead) and it was
said she made hundreds
of thousands (drop dead)
way back then.”
Other people buried in
Cemetery No. 1 include
Ernest Morial, first
black mayor of New
Orleans, and American
chess champion Paul
Morphy.
Whether you’re in
town for the French
Quarter Festival, Mardi
Gras, the Jazz and Heritage
Festival, or one of the
many other festivals
that make “The Crescent
City” come even more
alive, or just to see
the sights, there’s always
plenty to do and see in
New Orleans.
Where to Stay:
Embassy Suites New
Orleans on Julia Street
is just a short walk
from the French Quarter
and conveniently located
near other popular New
Orleans sites, like the
Louisiana Children’s
Museum and the Riverwalk
Marketplace Shopping
Mall. The hotel features
wireless connectivity
and elegant dining in
two restaurants. For the
best price, call the
hotel directly at
1-504-525-1993.
How to Get There:
Southwest Airlines
offers daily non-stop
flights to “The Big
Easy” from across the
country and currently
offers flights under
$100 from San Diego,
Baltimore, Chicago, Las
Vegas and other cities.
For more information on
the festival and the
city, visit
www.fqfi.org or go
to
www.nola.com.
For live radio
broadcasts and pictures
from the 25th
Annual French Quarter
Festival, visit
www.traveltalkmedia.com.
TravelTalkRADIO LIVE from New Orleans April 13, 2008
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