NEW ORLEANS – The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival presented by Shell concluded on Sunday, bringing a joyful climax to Jazz Fest 2015, which one social media fan appropriately called “Music Heaven.”
About 460,000 fans in total gathered over the two weekends to be a part of the 46th edition of Jazz Fest.
Twelve stages at the Fair Grounds Race Course featured virtually nonstop music, more than 60 food booths served up plate after plate of food that is widely regarded as the best music festival cuisine in the world, and three nationally recognized crafts areas showcased an unparalleled array of original arts and crafts.
Elton John, The Who, Jimmy Buffett, Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga, No Doubt, Keith Urban, Pitbull, John Legend, Ed Sheeran, T.I., Hozier, Lenny Kravitz, and many others appeared, turning New Orleans into the best place to be for music fans from around the world as they welcomed spring over ten days, April 24 through May 3.
Hundreds of New Orleans and Louisiana bands performed the gospel, blues, jazz, Cajun, zydeco, and other Louisiana roots music for which the Festival is famous, among them: Jerry Lee Lewis, Trombone Shorty, the Meters, Dr. John, Allen Toussaint, Buckwheat Zydeco, The Radiators, Juvenile & Mannie Fresh, Galactic, Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk, Kermit Ruffins, Beausoleil, Anders Osborne, and many, many more.
For the third year AXS TV offered a live national television broadcast of Jazz Fest during the second weekend of the Festival. AXS TV presented 21 hours of coverage of Jazz Fest 2015, including music performances by most of the Festival headliners as well as many New Orleans and Louisiana artists.
The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and Foundation, Inc. is the nonprofit organization that owns the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival presented by Shell. The Foundation uses the proceeds from Jazz Fest, and other revenues, for year-round activities in the areas of education, economic development and cultural enrichment. Education programs include the Don “Moose” Jamison Heritage School of Music, the Tom Dent Congo Square Lecture Series and the Class Got Brass competition. Economic Development initiatives include the Community Partnership Grants, the Sync Up entertainment industry conference and new programs such as the Catapult Fund and Brass Tacks. Cultural events include the Jazz Journey concert series and free community festivals: the Crescent City Blues & BBQ Festival, the Congo Square New World Rhythms Festival, the Louisiana Cajun-Zydeco Festival and the Tremé Creole Gumbo Festival.
The Foundation also owns radio station WWOZ 90.7-FM and the Jazz & Heritage Archive.
In December 2014, the Foundation opened a new building, the George and Joyce Wein Jazz & Heritage Center – an education and community facility named for Jazz Fest founder George Wein and his late wife.
The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival presented by Shell is a co-production of Festival Productions Louisiana, LLC. (a wholly owned subsidiary of Festival Productions, Inc.-New Orleans) and AEG Louisiana Production, LLC. (a subsidiary
Next year’s New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival presented by Shell is scheduled for April 22 – May 1, 2016.
