I love jazz music, southern food, sunny days outside drinking and short shorts. Therefore, I knew I would absolutely love Jazzfest. When my friend Kai talked about getting a group together to go, I didn't hesitate for a minute. Ended up being an awesome group of 4: Kai, Mike, Julie & me - along with a few local friends we were introduced to (who happened to have an awesome pool party each evening after the festival). We headed down on a Friday afternoon and stayed through Monday -- giving us 2 full days at the fest and 3 nights on the town in NOLA. The company was awesome, the weather was perfect and the food was great -- but the highlight for me was definitely seeing Fogerty, Trombone Shorty, The Revivalists, Arcade Fire, Robert Earl Keen & of course, The Boss himself.
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| The NOLA Gang: Mike, Jules, Kai & me |
Packing: To be clear, Jazzfest is not Coachella - so packing was a bit easier. Though it is funny how I can now easily pack for 3 weeks in 8 countries through Asia, but a long weekend throws me for a loop. Here's what I ended up with & I think it worked out pretty well:
Friday Night: We headed to our friend-of-a-friend's dad's-brother's pool party (I sound like Cher in clueless). Anywho, as a Cali-to-NYC transplant, a major hole in my social life is pool parties (which I LOVE). Add a great band, a margarita machine and a really fun crowd?! It made for a pretty awesome start to the weekend.
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| Julie, Rachael & Kai |
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| Such a babe! |
Saturday: We started off the morning with a power breakfast at The Ruby Slipper Cafe - YUM! One of the best Blood Mary's of my life.
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| cocktails on the curb |
From there we headed into the festival. We hit of the Hip Hop stage, the Gospel Tent & the Blue Tent.
Then made our way over to one of the grassy lawns, spread out our blankets and got our music on.
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| Me, Mike, Kai & Jules |
The crowds were more intense on Saturday due to Springsteen's show - but it made for some incredible people watching!
After Day 1 came to a close, we headed back to our friend's place for a fantastic dip in the pool, then back to our hotel for a shower & wardrobe change before heading out to Bourbon Street.
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| Stoop sessions NOLA-style. |
Sunday: Somehow we managed to start Day 2 earlier than Day 1. We kicked it off with some Gospel Tent sessions (it WAS Sunday after all) before heading to check out Robert Earl Keen (a favorite of Mike's and a new favorite of mine).
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| Kicking off Day 2 |
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| Cooling down under the mist in the Gospel Tent. |
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| Making new friends on the walk home |
Our last night in NOLA we headed out to Frenchman Street:
Such a fantastic weekend! Jazzfest was definitely a bucket-list item for me, and I'm thrilled I got to do it with these crazy cats. SO MUCH FUN.
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