From the people who who brought New Orleans Treme Crab Fest comes a celebration of a different breed: burgers.
People United for Armstrong Park will kick off their Jazz in the Park fall concert series with Jazz in the Park Burger Fest on Sept. 8 and 9 in Crescent Park. The festival will pair the sizzling of ground meats with the harmonies of jazz performances including Stephanie Mills and Denice Williams.
Alongside traditional beef burgers, the festival will offer hot sausage and seafood burgers, such as lobster, crawfish, crab and shrimp varieties. For the less carnivorously inclined, there will also be vegan burgers.
Emanuel Lain Jr., executive director of People United for Armstrong Park (the nonprofit organization that oversees Jazz in the Park) told NOLA.com that they decided to move Burger Fest to Crescent Park after their success with Treme Crab Fest.
Lain estimated that 15,000 people turned out for Treme Crab Fest over the course of four days, overcrowding Armstrong Park. Crescent Park will offer more space for their fall inaugural event.
The first day of the festival will be a ticketed event from 7 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. and will feature headliners Stephanie Mills, Denice Williams and Stephanie Jordan. Tickets will start at $20. The second day will be an open admissions event from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Its lineup includes Cyril Neville, Donald Harrison, N’Awlins Johnnys, Los Hombres Calientes, Otra and the Ceasar Brothers Funkbox.
Vendors include the Praline Connection, Chef Johnson Food Truck, Voleo’s Seafood Restaurant, Ms. Ackie’s Meals on Wheels, Creole Sneaux, Sweat Soul Food and Chef Scott’s Creole BBQ.
Burger Fest is still accepting new vendors. Interested vendors can apply at People United for Armstrong Park’s website. Tickets are also available through the site.