Spring festival season has ended… let the summer celebrations commence!

In June alone, there are festivals almost every weekend: the Louisiana Cajun-Zydeco Festival in Armstrong Park on June 6-7, Festigals at the JW Marriott on June 11-14, the French Market’s 39th annual Creole Tomato Festival, and the New Orleans Pride Festival, June 19-21. Finally, a relatively new fest, the Freret Caribbean Carnival, a celebration of Caribbean culture in New Orleans, that will take place at the Publiq House and outside on an adjacent parking lot on June 27. It’s a night-time festival, a great idea, to beat the June heat.

All of these festivals locally (there are many throughout the state too) show that there’s always room for music, food and culture in our daily lives. I know that sounds cliché, but having lived in New Orleans most of my life, it never ceases to amaze me how little respect locals give to our musicians. For example, I’ve been to many a club or restaurant where a band was playing—and I don’t mean necessarily background music—but when a number is finished, no one acknowledges the band at all. I’ve made it a habit to give the band a round of applause after each song, just to show them that someone is actually listening to what they play. Most of the time those two hands clapping set off a little chain reaction and others applaud as well. I just think they need to be reminded, don’t you?

It’s so easy for us locals to forget that there’s just no place else like New Orleans. We are surrounded by music every single day, and most of us take it for granted. This is what bothers me about our government leaders not taking a proactive stance on making sure that our music is front and center in development plans (am still waiting on the music museum), advertising, and preservation efforts. It’s always sort of the last thing they ever consider. OffBeat has been the lone voice promoting the importance of music for many years, pushing for music’s prominence, but only you can keep the momentum going.

Frenchmen Street has been the music street for more than a decade, but it’s getting to the point that it’s so crowded that there may be another opportunity opening for other areas to develop our music culture. One thing that’s crucial for this is proximity of buildings for clubs and venues as well as easy pedestrian access (both of these exist on Frenchmen and on Bourbon Streets). Where’s the next growth area? I have always thought it was St. Claude Avenue and the Bywater, but it’s going to be difficult because of the four-lane St. Claude and the length of the street. I’m thinking that perhaps Oretha Castle Haley may be the next frontier. There are several restaurants now open, as well as the Southern Food and Beverage Museum and the New Orleans Jazz Market. Will more music clubs be next?