NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Jazz fans don't need to sing the blues this year: Even though New Orleans' annual Satchmo SummerFest won't be free in 2015, the event will only charge a $5 admission fee.
The festival said in a press release Monday the new fee is intended to keep the quality of the event high and build toward growth and future expansion, according to NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune’s Keith Spera. The festival was founded in 2001 to mark jazz great Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong's 100th birthday and continues to celebrate his legacy.
The 15th anniversary Satchmo SummerFest runs from July 30 to Aug. 2 on the grounds of the Louisiana State Museum's Old U.S. Mint. Confirmed 2015 performers include Ellis Marsalis, PresHall Brass, Kermit Ruffins, Deacon John & the Ivories, Lars Edegran, the New Birth Brass Band, the Rebirth Brass Band, Robin Barnes, and Japanese trumpeter Yoshio Toyama & the Dixie Saints, a festival favorite. A full lineup will be released later in June.
The 2015 Satchmo SummerFest opens with a July 30 benefit for FQFI at Le Petit Theatre, featuring a screening of the 1956 movie "High Society," ''starring Armstrong, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra and Grace Kelly.
The inaugural "Spirit of Satch" Awards will be announced during the opening night reception at the Omni Royal Orleans.
The festival will also feature an exhibit of memorabilia from the Louis Armstrong House Museum in New York and a seminar series with various musicians, historians and producers.
