Doug MacCash

6 days ago | nola.com | Doug MacCash

Bayou Boogaloo is given the go-ahead for this year’s festival after a standoff with a New Orleans city council member, but there's no word yet on whether the 20-year-old festival will have to move in 2026. City Council member Joe Giarrusso announced Friday that he will allow the annual Mid-City Bayou Boogaloo to proceed in 2025, days after threatening to withhold its special event permit because of complaints by residents who live in the area.

6 days ago | nola.com | Doug MacCash

With a crucial permit for Bayou Boogaloo still at stake, fans of the fest who live nearby are expressing support for the three-day music festival at the south end of Bayou St. John. Though some neighbors have complained about inconveniences related to the fest and want to see it moved, others now say they welcome it. “I am a neighbor who lives within a half of a block of the Bayou Boogaloo,” wrote Nathan B. Abercrombie in an email on Thursday.

1 week ago | nola.com | Doug MacCash

A long-running local music festival that supports the restoration of Bayou St. John is in jeopardy this year and may not return to its traditional stomping grounds in the future. The Mid-City Bayou Boogaloo is scheduled to kick off May 16 with a lineup of local musicians, food vendors and crafts, as hundreds of rafts and innertubes bob on the waters of the bayou.

1 week ago | nola.com | Doug MacCash

Just a minute or two after the Shades of Praise choir finished their rousing set at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival Gospel Tent Friday, an announcer took to the microphone to broadcast the news. “There’s something very special getting ready to happen,” the announcer said. “Today, we have a wedding.”With that, a joyous shrieking erupted under the big white tent. Jazz Fest weddings are a thing.

2 weeks ago | nola.com | Doug MacCash

Here’s the scene. The Mexican band Son de Madera is setting up for their 12:30 p.m. show on the Jazz Fest’s Fais Do-Do stage on Sunday. Suddenly, a spasm of panic spreads when the bass player snaps a string and there isn’t a replacement at hand. At 11 minutes before showtime, somebody’s got to go grab a spare.