The Crescent City Blues & BBQ Festival is 30 Days Away

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NEW ORLEANS (September 13, 2023) — The Crescent City Blues & BBQ Festival will be held thirty days from now in Lafayette Square Park (602 St. Charles Ave.) in downtown New Orleans — October 13-15, 2023. 

Samantha Fish, Tab Benoit, and Shemekia Copeland will headline the festival, which is presented by the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation. Admission to the festival is free and open to the public.

The festival will be held on Friday, October 13 from 5:30pm to 8:30pm, and Saturday, October 14 and Sunday, October 15 from 11:00am to 8:30pm.

​​The Crescent City Blues & BBQ Festival is an award-winning event, featuring two stages of live music, a large selection of the best barbecue vendors in the region and a local arts market.

Performers at the 2023 edition include Samantha Fish, Tab Benoit, Shemekia Copeland, Cedric Burnside, Selwyn Birchwood, Lurrie Bell, Little Freddie King, Trudy Lynn, The Roadmasters with Special Guests, The Lilli Lewis Project, Johnny Sansone Band, Ernie Vincent, John Mooney & Bluesiana, Lil Jimmy Reed, Ghalia Volt, D.K. Harrell, Honey Island Swamp Band, and Johnny Mastro & The MBs.

Festival attendees will have the opportunity to indulge in a variety of barbeque dishes and other local fare from vendors including Cocoa & Cream Catering, Voleos Seafood, Que Pasta Nola Latin Street Food, Cafe Dauphine, Cochon King BBQ, Tiger’s Creole Cuisine, Divine Cuisine, Devil Moon, Brocato’s Catering, Central City BBQ, and Steakman Catering. Featured dessert vendors are Quintin’s Natural Ice Cream & Sorbet, KD’s NOLA Treats, Fresh Fruit Sensations, and Etalian Happy Ice.

The festival’s expansive arts market will feature an array of talented artisans including Bayousoap Co., Bergeron Woodworks, C. Kittok Art, Colorsinwoodandmetal, Elemental Designs, Epaul Julien, Fit to be Tied, Gozepa, Jhand Paints, Joshua Lee Studio, Karen Ocker, Kiki Huston Jewlery Design, Mercury Lab Guitars, Mosaic Bayou, Nurhan Gokturk Studio, Passion Lilie, Pollack Glass, Queens Metal, Sabine Chadborn Jewelry, Shaun Aleman Art & Design, Silver Fox Woodworking, String Heroes, and Studio NO.

---

---

Painted Axe has generously provided a one-of-a-kind guitar that will be autographed by this year’s Blues Fest performers. The guitar’s multicolored minimalist design, created using a fluid art technique called chain pull, symbolizes the vibrance of the French Quarter and the richness of the bayou. Learn more here.

“The 2023 Crescent City Blues and BBQ Festival guitar – with its whitewashed top, guitar outline and festival logo – presents a contrasting backdrop for the many artist autographs that will be collected,” said Painted Axe owner, artisan Michael Gauf. “It will be quite a collectible and an invaluable piece of memorabilia for the lucky bidder.” 

VIP Experience Passes are available for those seeking a premium festival encounter, offering reserved seating, access to a complimentary bar, and air-conditioned comfort throughout the weekend at the Blake Hotel. Less than twenty passes remain. Purchase V.I.P. Experience Passes here.

The Crescent City Blues & BBQ Festival partner hotel, Virgin Hotels New Orleans, is offering special rates extended just for Crescent City Blues & BBQ Fest goers. Only steps away from the festival grounds, the hotel is located in New Orleans’ lively Warehouse District. Virgin Hotels New Orleans mixes a passion for food and beverage with music and culture that fuses with the Crescent City’s unique personality, providing an inclusive environment for travelers and locals alike. Hotel space is limited and allotted on a first come, first serve basis. Book here. 

Media outlets and journalists interested in covering the 2023 Crescent City Blues & BBQ Festival may fill out the media request form here.

The festival will be broadcast live by Jazz & Heritage community radio station WWOZ New Orleans 90.7 FM from Lafayette Square, accessible over the air and via live-streaming at www.wwoz.org, as well as on the Foundation’s Facebook page and YouTube Channel.

The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation extends its sincere gratitude to the sponsors of the 2023 Crescent City Blues & BBQ Festival: Cathead Vodka, Urban South Brewery, National Endowment for the Arts, Evamor Water, Luzianne Tea, Chillzone, WGNO, and the Louisiana Office of Cultural Development. For more information, visit crescentcitybluesfest.com

###

ABOUT THE NEW ORLEANS JAZZ & HERITAGE FOUNDATION

The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation invests proceeds from the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival presented by Shell and additional funds that we raise for year-round programming in education, economic development and cultural enrichment.   Education programs include the Don “Moose” Jamison Heritage School of Music, the Tom Dent Congo Square Lectures, the Class Got Brass competition for school brass bands, a youth audio workshop program, youth vocal workshops, and more! Economic Development initiatives include the Community Partnership Grants, the Catapult Fund accelerator program and Sync Up entertainment industry workshops. Cultural enrichment programs include the Jazz & Heritage Concert Series and annual Foundation Festivals: the Crescent City Blues & BBQ Festival, the Congo Square Rhythms Festival, the Tremé Creole Gumbo Festival and the Louisiana Cajun-Zydeco Festival.  Importantly, these are free programs that the Jazz and Heritage Foundation has developed over many years to ensure that we give back to Louisiana. The Jazz & Heritage Foundation also owns radio station WWOZ 90.7-FM and the Jazz & Heritage Archive.  In late 2014, the Foundation opened the George and Joyce Wein Jazz & Heritage Center – an education and community facility named for the late Jazz Fest founder George Wein and his wife Joyce.  In March of 2020, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation established the Jazz & Heritage Music Relief Fund – a statewide relief fund to support Louisiana musicians who were affected by the pandemic. In the last two years the Jazz & Heritage Foundation has been able to provide relief funds of more than $2 million dollars supporting musicians, music industry gig workers, Black Masking Indians and other indigenous cultural practitioners. To learn more about the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation, please visit us online at www.jazzandheritage.org