Jazz Fest
When the temperature in New Orleans starts to rise and festival season roars into full swing, locals know the granddaddy of all Louisiana festivals, The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, is not far away.
Internationally known and steeped in history, Jazz Fest opened this weekend amid a backdrop of sunny, clear skies and cool breezes that flowed across the spacious grassy fields of the New Orleans Fair Grounds.
While many initially think of a wide selection of eclectic music, Jazz Fest has more to offer than just great blues, jazz and zydeco. True to its name, the festival also emphasizes south Louisiana’s heritage through countless booths and demonstrations.
 
The Grandstand
From the entrance on Gentilly Boulevard, the first stop is the Grandstand, a mammoth building whose green-tinted glass windows sparkle in the sunlight. The Grandstand area is well stocked with a medical station, bathrooms, a Hibernia ATM, two music stages and a Zatarain’s Food Heritage Stage — where cooking and tasting demonstrations of traditional Cajun and Creole dishes are held at intervals throughout the day.
George Abraham, Stephen Nagy, Bill Manson, Robert Kraus and Edward Blakely, a group of friends from Michigan, were enjoying a cooking demonstration outside the Grandstand sponsored by Zatarain’s on Saturday.
The group said Jazz Fest holds a mystique and a spiritual connection that cannot be duplicated.
“If you could put this stuff into a pipe and smoke it, they’d make it illegal,” Blakely said. 
For the past 20 years, the group of friends has planned trips to Jazz Fest.
“We can’t always make it, some years one or two of us will be missing, but we try as hard as we can to get down here,” Abraham said. “And we make it an experience — we go out to the different clubs at night and just soak in the city. We plan to come back next year as well.”
 
Heritage Square
Inside Heritage Square is a colorful area bustling with an eclectic mix of artistic pieces. With glass and wire sculptures, baskets and photographs, the Contemporary Craft area overflows with a unique combination of culture and artistry.
Lewis Tardy, an artist hailing from Michigan, creates one-of-a-kind sculptures from scrap metal pieces. Tardy has been featured at Jazz Fest for the past seven years and said he looks forward to the festival each year.
“It’s such an enjoyable experience for me,” Tardy said. “I always want to come back.”
Tardy said the inspiration for his pieces comes from the various pieces of metal he uses.
“A certain part of the [scrap metal] piece will trigger an idea and just evolve into something unexpected,” he said. “I focus primarily on the human and animal forms because the anatomy is interesting. And I like the challenge of bringing something to life.”
 
Congo Square
Congo Square is a simmering pot of culture and tradition. The area encompasses several marketplaces and demonstration areas of African and Louisiana folklore.
Ivy Billiot, a member of the United Houma Nation, demonstrates the art of chain-saw carving inside the Native American Village Tent. Billiot has been carving animals and objects out of wood for 30 years. The piece he was working on was a carving of an alligator that weighed more than 110 pounds and measured almost eight feet long.
Billiot said he has been sharing his craft at Jazz Fest for the past 14 years.
“It’s like a vacation for me,” he said. “I love getting to know all the people that stop by.”
 
Food Vendors
Several areas throughout the Fair Grounds offer delicious traditional Cajun and Creole cooking, as well as other ethnic food options.
Ernest Jones, one of the main cooks for Catering Unlimited, has sold jambalaya at Jazz Fest for the past 19 years.
Jones said preparation for such a huge event involves a lot of planning. Each food vendor prepares for about seven percent of the day’s crowd, or about 5,000 people per weekend, Jones said.
The vendors decide in October what food they will prepare for the following year’s festival.
“This year is the best in 19 years, and you can tell by the crowds,” he said. “Everyone is just like family. You know, you have your neighbors and you remember the people that come back year after year.”