From heavy traffic to long lines, this year's Jazz & Heritage Festival's opening day was one for the books.
In true Jazz Fest fashion, the sun blasted festival goers, leaving many red and hot, but artists like Lizzo, Big Freedia, and Wu-Tang Clan + Soul Rebels made it worthwhile.
Among those talents, yesterday was a day filled with amazing performances. Known as "The First Lady of New Orleans Jazz," Germaine Bazzle dazzled the WWOZ Jazz Tent, while just across the way, Big Freedia led the crowd in a "twerk-out" session with her unique, yet naturally New Orleans' sound. This was Big Freedia's first year performing at the Festival Stage, and it's safe to say that she belongs there for the years to come..
There were several other fantastic performances from musicians such as Tank and The Bangas, Dragon Smoke, Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, Mavis Staples, Jason Marsalis and many more.
This year's opening day seemed a bit more crowded than last year and while we can blame the international superstar Lizzo for that, there are other factors that played a part. Being only the second year out of the Covid hiatus, patrons from tourists to locals seemed much more comfortable attending this year's fest.
The crowds were not only large at the stages, but food lines were a bit extreme as well. While the new cashless Jazz Fest went without any digital hiccups, all of the extra steps involved in a card transaction slowed the payment process--not to mention the added fees to many purchases, which wouldn't have happened with cash payments.
One silver lining is while the more popular items like, Crawfish Monica and soft shell crab po-boys were slammed, it gave many the opportunity to try something new.
Despite a few gripes about the new payment system, opening day was a success. A very talented, yet admittedly hungover Lizzo ended the show at the Festival Stage where it's safe to say she ended the night with a bang.
Yep, it was certainly a big opening day for the Jazz Festival. Now it's time to do it all over again. So put on your most comfortable dancing shoes as today should also be a good one. See ya at the Fairgrounds.
