New Orleans is known for its jazz history and culture. We honor this historical Jazz culture with a celebration of New Orleans own, Louis Armstrong “Satchmo.” The New Orleans Satchmo Summer Festival is a free American Jazz festival put on by the French Quarter Festivals Inc. to celebrate the life and works of Louis Armstrong. Featuring free local New Orleans jazz, the Satchmo Festival will be held from August 4th-7th in the French Quarter, at the Louisiana State Museum’s Old U.S. Mint, only steps away from the French Market.
Some of the musicians featured in this year’s Satchmo Festival include, our favorite, Kermit Ruffin, Jeremy Davenport, Dixie Saints, Rebirth Brass Band, the Treme Brass Band, and so more. Alongside this traditional, contemporary and local Jazz music will be unique speakers, seminars, and exciting special events, such as Louis Armstrong’s birthday party, a Jazz Mass on Sunday at the Treme St. Augustine Church, and a second line parade. The Satchmo Festival also offers some of New Orleans most delicious local food and drink including locally brewed Abita Beer, fresh, local snowballs, and the red beans and rice loved by Louis Armstrong himself.
Because of the heat of the summer, this tends to be more of a local fest, less crowded and one of our favorites. As always…..great music, local color and delicious food! An umbrella and sunscreen are good items to take with you when you leave your Garden District bed and breakfast.
Satchmo SummerFest, a four-day commemoration of the music and legacy of Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong, opens on August 4, 2011, which just happens to be the exact day 110 years earlier that Armstrong was born in a poor, run-down section of New Orleans to an unwed mother.