Arts & Culture

This week the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation kicks off its sixth annual free conference. The Sync Up event brings entertainment industry experts to New Orleans as a way to help local artists get a grip on business trends. This Friday and Saturday morning - April 26 and 27 - and next Friday and Saturday morning - May 3 and 4 - Sync Up has free panel discussions at the New Orleans Museum of Art, from 9am to 12:30 pm. Registration is recommended, at www.syncupconference.com.

This week host Diane Mack goes Inside the Arts to talk jazz with acclaimed saxophonist Donald Harrison, Jr.

Then, Academy Award-winning screenwriter and gay rights activist Dustin Lance Black will make a stop in New Orleans for the staged reading of the play 8.

The Vieux Carré will become ground zero this week as the French Quarter Festival — the largest free music festival in the southeast — kicks off its 30th anniversary celebration with four days of music.

We sat down with Marci Schramm, the festival’s executive director, to learn more about what’s on tap for this year’s festivities.

Highlights from the interview:

On reaching the 30-year milestone:

This week host Diane Mack goes Inside the Arts for a sneak peek at French Quarter Festival in the Vieux Carré, and talks with members of the New Orleans Nightingales who are set to perform at the Fest.

Plus, a look back at  World's Fairs in the exhibit Inventing the Modern World, now on view at the New Orleans Museum of Art.

Airs Tuesday at 1:00 p.m. and Thursday at 7:35 a.m.