The French Quarter Festivals Reflect Community Pride

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.