40 years and counting: What you need to know about the 2023 French Quarter Festival

The impetus for 1984’s inaugural French Quarter Festival is not unfamiliar to New Orleanians four decades later: the inconvenience and disruption of prolonged street repairs.

A monthslong project that tore up French Quarter streets and sidewalks in the early ‘80s chased away locals, much to the consternation of the historic neighborhood’s business owners.

Hoping to lure locals back to the Quarter, then-Mayor Dutch Morial announced in November 1983 that a free, three-day festival was planned for the following spring.

And thus the French Quarter Festival was born.

While frustration over street repairs hasn’t changed much in 40 years, the French Quarter Festival has.

Attendance at the 1984 festival was counted in the hundreds. Attendance for the 2023 French Quarter Festival, which opens Thursday and continues through Sunday, will number in the hundreds of thousands.

That first festival was limited to four stages on Bourbon Street, two stages on Royal Street and a couple more in Jackson Square and on Wilkinson Row.

Now the French Quarter Fest stretches from the Old U.S. Mint to Woldenberg Park, with 20 stages up and running on its busiest days and extensive traffic restrictions in and around the Quarter.

In its early years, the French Quarter Fest favored traditional jazz and classic New Orleans artists such as Allen Toussaint and Chris Owens, both of whom are now deceased.

The current festival showcases the full spectrum of south Louisiana music: jazz, funk, Cajun and zydeco, brass bands, Mardi Indians, rock, rap and more. More than 60 food vendors will also be featured throughout the festival’s sprawling footprint.

When the first French Quarter Fest opened on April 6, 1984, Freddie Ross Jr. was 6 years old. Ross, better known as Big Freedia, is one of this year’s featured acts via a Friday collaboration with the Soul Rebels.

This year’s 40th anniversary French Quarter Festival also features Irma Thomas, Ani DiFranco, Tank & the Bangas, Louisiana’s LeRoux, Samantha Fish and approximately 265 other acts. Music plays on the outdoor festival stages from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.

More than 50 artists are making their French Quarter Fest debut this year, including Fish, rapper Dee1 and the Iceman Special.

Additionally, the festival is also presenting an “After Dark” concert series at indoor venues with a cover charge.

The French Quarter Fest After Dark nighttime concerts include Ivan Neville performing in the Four Seasons Hotel Garden on Thursday ($45 cover); John Michael Bradford & the Vibe at Three Keys at ACE Hotel on Friday ($25); Boyfriend at The Parish of the House of Blues on Saturday ($35); and Eric Lindell at Tipitina’s on Sunday ($28 advance, $30 at the door).

Chevron is once again the French Quarter Festival’s presenting sponsor. This year’s commemorative poster was designed by Tilt Studio.

The festival is produced by the nonprofit French Quarter Festivals Inc. (FQFI), which also produces the Satchmo Summerfest and the Holidays New Orleans Style concert series.

After a two-year COVID hiatus, the French Quarter Fest came roaring back in 2022, with attendance figures matching pre-pandemic levels.

General admission is free but a VIP option is available.

The Nola.com Fest Family Experience includes access to an elevated viewing stand near the Abita Beer Stage in Woldenberg Park and hospitality lounges at the Chevron and Jack Daniel’s stages, three complimentary drinks and other amenities. The Fest Family Experience is $429 for all four days or $129 for a single day.

Go to www.fqfi.org for more details.

FRIDAY PERFORMANCES

The stage count increases to 12 on Friday, a day featuring blues-based guitarist Samantha Fish, contemporary R&B and soul belter Erica Falls, rapper Dee1 and a merger of brass/hip-hop band the Soul Rebels with bounce music and multi-media star Big Freedia.

Other highlights include Earth Wind & Fire-inspired R&B/funk band Water Seed (6:40 p.m., Jack Daniel’s Stage); swamp pop veteran Tommy McLain with southwest Louisiana guitar slinger C.C. Adcock (5:30 p.m., WWL-TV Esplanade in the Shade Stage, right after Dee1) and Solid Harmony’s tribute to the late Topsy Chapman (3:50 p.m., GE Stage in Jackson Square).

SATURDAY PERFORMANCES

The full complement of 20 stages swings into action on Saturday, with headliners Mardi Gras Indian Big Chief Monk Boudreaux & the Golden Eagles, the long-running Rebirth Brass Band, the funky party band Flow Tribe and the crowd-pleasing Charmaine Neville.

Other highlights include jazz clarinetist and singer Aurora Nealand & the Royal Roses (11:15 a.m., Zapp’s Potato Chips Stage in the 600 block of Bourbon Street); roots music/funk keyboardist and singer John “Papa” Gros (5 p.m., Jack Daniel’s Stage); and percussionist Seguenon Kone & Ivoire Spectacle (11:30 a.m., Abita Beer Stage).

SUNDAY PERFORMANCES

The 2023 festival finishes strong on Sunday with Tank & the Bangas, keyboardist Jon Cleary & the Absolute Monster Gentlemen, ever-energetic Rockin’ Dopsie Jr. & the Zydeco Twisters, swingin’ jazz trumpeter and singer Jeremy Davenport and veteran saxophonist James Rivers.

Other highlights include 90-year-old Preservation Hall saxophonist Charlie Gabriel (3:50 p.m., GE Stage); gospel legends the Zion Harmonizers (11:10 a.m., Tropical Isle Hand Grenade Stage) and singer-songwriter Kelcy Mae Wilburn’s Ever More Nest (12:35 p.m., Pan American Life Insurance Group Stage at the Moonwalk Extension).