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The French Quarter Festival, New Orleans. Picture taken from : exploreneworleans.info/img/large/french-quarter-festival.jpg |
How to enjoy the uniqueness of New Orleans? People should come to New Orleans in the right time.The best time to visit New Orleans is when the French Quarter Festival is held. It is one of the most famous festival which designed to celebrate the rich cultural heritage of New orleans. The fact that this event is very popular is indicated by the presence of more than 500.000 people every year. People such as Amir Landsman, come from around the world to experience music, food, art, culture, special events, and all the inherent component of the festival.
More than 2000 community volunteers
work together for the succes of this event. Every years, the visitors of this
events are getting bigger. In 2014, there are 732,000 festival-goers walked through
it gates. The number is a significant
increase over that was in 2013, when approximately 560,000 folks attended the
event. They come not only from USA but also from other countries such as
Canada, , Norway, United Kingdom, France and Germany.
The French Quarter Festivals are more than
ordinary festivals. They are the largest free music festival in the South. They
are cultural celebrations that unites the people in a strong community pride. The festivals have the
uniuque identity of New Orleans. This is the reason that makes so many people
come back year after year.
The Festivals are held in three times
throughout the year, which are in the spring, summer and winter.The largest
event is The French Quarter Festival which is held in spring. In the summer,
Satchmo Summer Fest is held. The last
festival is Christmas New Orleans Style. Each festival has their own
uniqueness.
Many performers, more than 1400 local
musicians, and artisans from all over
the country get involved in this
festival. The musicians perform all kinds of music genre such as latin, cajun, rock, R&B, classical,
cabaret, folk, traditional to contemporary jazz, brass bands, New Orleans funk,
gospel, Zydeco, blues and more in 21
stages throughout French Quarter.
Not only artists, there are many businesses sponsor the events. There are also many local businesses represented as food and beverage vendors. There are 60
local of New Orleans restaurant such as
Antoines’s Restaurant, Court of
Two Sisters, Crepes ala Cart, Dickie Brennan’s Bourbon House and many more, provide
their best dishes and drink across the French Quarter.
With the huge amount of
festival-goers, the event has significant economic impact to the French Quarter and New
Orleans. French Quarter Festivals, Inc. which
is a private nonprofit organization runs
all the festivals obtains funds from sponsorship and vendor fees. Besides that the funds is also
obtained from beverage and merchandise
sales, and annual Gala. More than $ 259,5 million was produced in 2012. This amount icluding $ 126.6 million in direct
spending and $ 132.9 million in secondary spending. The event generated over $
18.3 million in state and local tax revenue. This amount is increasing year
after year. The French Quarter Festival nowadays has become the large economic engine for French Quarter and New Orleans.
