The Sunday Salon – Festival Reading
I’m being a bum today. Yesterday was Jazz Fest, ever heard of it? The long name is The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival and this year was it’s 40th anniversay. This was only my third time going, but it was a lot of fun….and hot…very hot..I was sweating ALL day! Jazz Fest runs for two weeks at the Fairgrounds (the race track) over here. It runs the last Friday, Saturday, Sunday of April and the first Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday of May…this is the last week.
It’s so much more than just music too. There are arts and crafts everywhere…everywhere you look. Some really amazing stuff. Lots of local artists come out to sell their wares. And then there’s the food…my God, the food! There are literally a couple of hundred of food booths and everything sells something different from po-boys, bread pudding, crawfish bread, crawfish bisque, crawfish etouffee, crawfish monica (yeah, we like our crawfish :p), gumbo, jambalaya, and stuff you’ve never heard of before! They even had mediterranean and sushi this year! For food, I had a paneed chicken poboy, some crawfish monica (which is crawfish and rotini pasta in this delicious spicy cream sauce, and a falafel sandwich. And I had LOTS of water.
Music wise, we stayed at pretty much one stage the entire time. We saw The Wild Magnolias who are this group of African Americans who dress up in elaborate Native American costumes and do this incredible tribal/jazz music. The we moved over to 
the main stage and saw Buckwheat Zydeco (really big in New Orleans), Dr. John (really, really big in New Orleans…did the original Iko Iko), and then Bon Jovi. I was less than thrilled to see Bon Jovi..sorry fans. But he was so so…very 80′s. Felt like I was thrown back in a time machine actually. The reason I was less than thrilled, really, is because Kings of Leon were playing at the same time, but all the way across the fest. And my friend who got the tickets for the day wanted to see Bon Jovi…so since she saved me $50, I stuck around :p
It was lots of fun! Oh…and they had a giant book tent…so you know I had to stop in there. You’ll see this book tomorrow in my Mailbox Monday VLOG, but for now I’ll just let y’all know that I got a book called Voodoo Season by Jewell Parker Rhodes and it sounds fantastic!! Takes place in NOLA, and it’s about the great great granddaughter of Marie Leveau. I had to share the opening line with you:
She was cloaked in mist – soft as silk, cold as ice, darker than the bayou on a moonless night. “Marie.” She was blind in a world without parameters, borders. Only Sound. Raw feelings.
Seriously, could you pass up a book with a first line like that?
Ok…enough rambling now…see y’all tomorrow with a vlog!
well hell son! even if YOU don’t like bon jovi you could have taken a few pictures of him for ME! LOL
Bon Jovi over Kings of Leon? *blinks*
Your friend made you miss Kings of Leon for Bon Jovi??? Dang. That’s just harsh.
Marie Leveau? I like it already!! Can’t wait to see your vlog tomorrow!
Yeah, I think I want that book already!
Glad to hear you had such a fabulous time…you certainly deserved it!!! We have a pretty big Jazz Festival up here, too. Why in Rochester? Good question…I’ve no idea. But whatever the reason, it sure makes Rich happy! It’s in June and lasts like nine days. Rich tries to go a couple times, but I never go with him (Annie does), because he loves the really jazz-y stuff, and I just don’t like it. He’s thrilled to be seeing Dave Brubeck this year, but for me to go with him would be a big waste of $50. The Wild Magnolias…now that sounds like a concert I’d love to see!
lol! I love that picture of you. The festival sounds amazing, and the food delicious (except for all the crawfish, of course). Bon Jovi reminds me of being 12. Ah, the memories
I think Crossroads was the first CD I ever bought.
That book sounds amazing! I love those opening lines.
Deslily, Sorry! LOL…I’ll try to find some online pictures for you of him at Jazz Fest :p
Bart, I felt the same way my friend….but for some reason she was hooked on seeing Bon Jovi :/ He wasn’t the greatest…though I did enjoy “Living on a Prayer” and “Dead or Alive” :p
Steph, Yep she sure did…isn’t that ashame? I’m thinking Kings of Leon might come back for Voodoo fest later this year though, so it’s all good. You’d like this book I think!
Debi, That’s so cool! I didn’t know that y’all had a jazz fest there too!!! Do y’all get national acts too or is it mainly locals. Honestly, I kind of miss jazz fest here being mostly local bands. I still love seeing the local groups like the Wild Magnolias and Dr. John…but they get so many mainstream bands! This year James Taylor, Neil Young, and Dave Matthews played too. I love to see all of them, but it’s not Jazz :p Hope Rich has fun!
Nymeth, I’m glad you love the picture :p It was my first time sporting the bandana :p It was so damn hot!! You need to try crawfish, lol. I’m not a big seafood fan either, but I LOVE crawfish! They don’t have that fishy taste to them. And we mask them with so many spices! I used to love Crossroads :p That was one of the first cds I bought too. Was that the one with Always on it? I used to love that song…ah, the ballads of the early 90′s lol!
That list of food vendors has got me drooling. Man, does that ever sound like some good eating.
I am so envious that you live in NO and went to Jazz Fest. I’m a few states below (FL) and have looked into going many times, but geez, the hotels are crazy talk.
I tell you what tho’ I have dreams of Cafe Du Monde still. It’s been nearly 10 years since I’ve been to NO but I can still taste that damn fine chicory coffee and beignets! (I’ve managed to get the coffee mailed here, but the beignets…not so easy. Haha!)
Have a relaxing Sunday.
And IIIIIIIIIII
will love you
ba-beeeeee
a-lwaaaaaaaays
I’ll be there
foreeeever and a day
Yep…that’s the one
Sounds like a truly fantastic way to spend the weekend. I have never had crawfish…maybe the hubby and I need to ride the motorcycle down there next year and check out this festival!!! Yep, that first line sounds awesome..enjoy your read!!
Memory, It really is! If it weren’t for getting full, I’d probably eat at least one of all of the hundreds of dishes there :p
Christina, LOL…I guess I take beignets for granted :p The coffee and chicory is amazing! I could drink 10 cups a day. If you want to send me your address, I’d be more than happy to send you some beignet mix! They sell the cafe du monde beignet mix in all of the grocery stores down here. I could get you some of that and some of the CDM coffee. Just let me know. My email address is chrisa511(at)gmail(dot)com!
Nymeth, Awwww…you’re singing love ballads to me :p LOL! Yep, that’s the one.
Staci, It was a great weekend!! Crawfish are so good! And they’re perfectly in season right now. Y’all should definitely come down here sometime! Let me know if you do! We can meet up
lol! I am not
Just embarrassing myself by revealing to the world I still know the lyrics by heart :shakes head:
It does sound like a good time even despite not being so thrilled with Bon Jovi… And that’s very sweet of your friend! Those’re expensive tickets. Were they just for one day or multiple ones? (*dim, but used to it*) Still, as long as you had fun it’s all good, no? ^-^