French Quarter Fest will take place April 21-24 this year, the latest festival to celebrate a comeback after two years of COVID cancellations.
The free downtown music festival will feature over 1800 Louisiana musicians at 20 stages, even more than at its last event in 2019, said Emily Modero, President & CEO of French Quarter Festivals, Inc., at a Tuesday press conference announcing the festival’s lineup this spring.
The four-day line up is available here, and features local favorites like Tank and the Bangas, Kermit Ruffins & the Barbecue Swingers, Sweet Crude, and many more. Music runs 11am-8pm each day of the festival.
The full schedule will be revealed in late March, according to the festival’s website.
French Quarter Fest had been slated to return in the fall of 2021, but was canceled in August as Louisiana COVID cases spiked during the Delta variant wave.
After the cancellation, the festival sent relief payments to all musicians and gig workers who had been scheduled to perform or work at the 2021 festival, Modero said. The payments were made possible by the festival’s presenting sponsor, Chevron.
Modero announced several new initiatives for the 2022 festival, including a new partnership with the Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program to enhance recycling efforts, and an “After Dark” series, bringing pop up performances across the city after 8pm each day.
In 2019, French Quarter Fest drew a crowd of over 800,000 people, breaking past attendance records.
