Every year, Jazz Fest gets the messages, practically up to the start of the event. They’re from would-be food vendors, hoping that Jazz Fest is like some other festivals, where a guy with a trailer, a fryer and a good corn dog recipe might be able to wheel in for a weekend and make some dough.
But that’s not Jazz Fest. More than at any other music festival, the food at Jazz Fest is an entwined part of the experience.
The vendors come from small, mostly family-run local businesses – restaurants and caterers, pop-ups, a few nonprofits. Most return year after year, mainly serving the same time-tested dishes.
That creates a framework for relationships and rituals. People have made these dishes their own, incorporating them into their Jazz Fest planning and anticipation as much as any particular act on stage.
In fact, there are some food fanatics I know who, when asked what they’re excited about at Jazz Fest this year, will start going on about crawfish Monica, Vaucresson sausage po-boys, trout Baquet and mango freeze before getting around to Pearl Jam or Lil Wayne.
Through the years, I’ve collected glimpses of how Jazz Fest food works, of the huge logistical lift required of these small vendors to pull it together. It’s quite the feat to make this feast.
They’re fielding dishes of restaurant quality, or home cooked quality, from outdoor kitchens, come what may, over two long weekends, at the pace of grab-and-go street food. It’s the result of systems developed over the years, and an all-out effort at festival time. You don’t just roll into town like this is the next event and start slinging food.
As time goes on, and the Jazz Fest seasons add up, inevitably we see some vendors bowing out. That’s always sad, though it does open the opportunity for new restaurants to step in and make their mark on Jazz Fest. I’ll be out there trying what’s new, but I always look forward to reuniting with my favorite dishes. They’re part of the season, part of the celebration, and that’s part of New Orleans food culture.