By George Abry NEW ORLEANS As summer settles on the Crescent City,
the tourists clear out, wilting humidity sets in and locals get on
with their lives. The city’s Holy Trinity of festivals Mardi Gras,
French Quarter Fest and the Jazz & Heritage Festival are off in
the hazy distance of 2004. But don’t expect New Orleanians to hide
from the delta sun. If you can’t beat the heat, might as well join
it. And the best antidote to the dog days of summer is ... you
guessed it, a celebration. Any old reason will do: a tomato, a
strawberry, a frog, a duck, a trumpet. Anything will pass for a
party in the Big Easy, any time of year. JUNE French Market Tomato
Festival Sat., May 31 and Sun., June 1. The Creole tomato is
sweeter and meatier than other tomatoes, and plays a major role in
the city’s world-class cuisine. The festival heralds the arrival of
the year’s first crop. Live music, cooking demonstrations and
marching groups will furnish the backdrop. Food booths offer
everything tomato from Bloody Mary’s to fried green tomatoes,
Tomato Mambo to Cole Succotash. Free, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the
French Market on the Mississippi River, “America’s oldest public
market.” JULY Go Fourth on the River Fri., July 4. The Fourth of
July is celebrated with great fanfare on the banks of the
Mississippi River. Riverboat rides, free live music, food, and an
explosive fireworks display commemorate a daylong Independence Day
celebration at Woldenberg Park. Coca-Cola Essence Music Festival
2003 Thurs., July 3 through Sat., July 5. The 9th annual Essence
Fest returns to New Orleans with an R & B, hip-hop, reggae, and
jazz lineup that includes P. Diddy and the Bad Boy Family, Chaka
Khan and Smokey Robinson, among others. The three-day event at the
Louisiana Superdome features five stages, book signings and
celebrity meet-and-greets. Leading African-American political
activists, religious and social leaders will speak and conduct
seminars. Tickets from $35 to $125, available through Ticketmaster.
www.essence. com or www.ticketmaster. com. Satchmo SummerFest
Thurs., July 31 through Mon., Aug. 4. One of the city’s annual
musical highlights pays tribute to legendary trumpeter and native
son Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong. Musical guests include local jazz
patriarch Ellis Marsalis and good-time trumpeter Kermit Ruffins.
The free event, held at the Louisiana State Museum’s Old U.S. Mint
in the French Quarter, includes lectures and discussions led by
national cultural historians and will feature exhibits devoted to
jazz. And, of course, there will be plenty of red beans and rice.
August Gueydan Duck Festival Thurs., Aug. 21 through Sun., Aug. 24.
If your clients have just a few hours for a day trip to Cajun
country, the Duck Festival might be just the thing. The event began
in a rice field in the late ‘70s, and now has 10 acres in Gueydan,
which is a 3½-hour drive west of New Orleans. Usually held near the
last weekend before Labor Day, the Duck Festival offers carnival
rides, duck- and goose-calling contests, skeet shoots, dog trials
and lots and lots of Cajun cooking. 888-536-6456;
www.duckfestival.org. SEPTEMBER Oktoberfest Fridays and Saturdays
from Sept. 26 through Oct. 25. An annual festival celebrating
traditional German music, dancing, food and drink is held each year
at the Deutsches Haus, a local German social organization at 200 S.
Galvez St. 504-522-8014. OCTOBER Irish Fall Festival Sat., Oct. 4
and Sun., Oct. 5 O’Flaherty’s Irish Channel Centre & Pub at 514
Toulouse St. celebrates the luck of the Irish with music and
dancing, workshops, storytelling, food and children’s activities.
504-529-1317. Louisiana Swamp Festival Sat., Oct. 4 and Sun., Oct.
5; Sat., Oct. 11 and Sun., Oct. 12. Each October the Audubon Zoo is
host to two weekends of music, food, crafts and hands-on animal
exhibits and feedings. The museum opened its Louisiana Swamp
exhibit in 1984 but it was the festival that prompted a $3-million
expansion in 1999. The exhibit includes the re-creation of a 1930s
swamp settlement and lots of indigenous attractions, including
crawfish po’ boys. 504-581-4629; www.auduboninstitute.org. New
Orleans Film Festival Thurs., Oct. 9 through Thurs., Oct. 16. Film
buffs can check out premieres of American and foreign films at the
15th annual New Orleans Film Festival. Each year, prominent
directors, screenwriters, film critics and actors participate in
panel discussions and workshops during weeklong festivities. Venues
include the D-Day Museum; the Aquarium of the Americas; and local
theatres, including the Contemporary Arts Center. 504-523-3818;
www.new orleansfilmfest.com. DECEMBER The month of December allows
clients to experience Christmas “New Orleans-style.” Dozens of
yuletide events take place throughout the city, including candlelit
tours of 19th century homes, caroling, bonfire and riverboat
cruises, and Christmas Day musical performances. Seeing the French
Quarter twinkling with Christmas lights from a horse-drawn buggy is
reason enough to visit New Orleans in December.
www.christmasneworleans.com. A complete listing of festivals and
events is posted on www.louisianatourism.com. The Web site has
information about yearlong festivities relating to the bicentennial
of the Louisiana Purcha
