In April 1970, the first New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival was held in what is now Congo Square, where the city’s own jazz clarinetist Pete Fountain headlined and nearly two dozen food vendors served south Louisiana cuisine.
Now, over 50 years later, half a million visitors — many wearing past years’ Hawaiian-style shirts — flood into the Fair Grounds race track for Jazz Fest. Hitmakers like The Rolling Stones, Katy Perry and Lizzo have performed on one of the 14 stages. And this year, over 60 vendors are serving both homegrown and international cuisine.
But despite how vastly its grown over the years, the core of the festival has remained the same, bolstering the essence of New Orleans culture while keeping its finger ever so slightly on the pulse.
“We have helped give traditional music a place at the table in American popular culture,” Quint Davis, the producer and director of Jazz Fest, said in 2009…