The Bayou Boogaloo’s VIP section, dubbed the “Canopy Club,” aims to do more than offer a shady spot during the festival, which kicks off on Friday, May 16, and runs through Sunday, May 18.

Marlin Miller's carved oak tree at Bayou Boogaloo 2013. (Photo by Kim Welsh)

For a cool $100 per weekend ticket, Canopy Club members will have access to sofas, a private bar, and cooking demonstrations. While these immediate comforts will be readily accepted, the long term benefit for the area will be even better since proceeds from ticket sales will help fund presenting sponsor Positive Vibrations Foundation’s ongoing effort to replace shade trees along the bayou.

“A number of the live oak trees along the bayou have been destroyed over the years as the result of various hurricanes and storms,” Positive Vibrations Director Ben Faulks said. “With the money we’ve raised from the Boogaloo, we’ve actually put it all back into infrastructure along the bayou by planting new trees.”

The Canopy Club is the latest incarnation of that effort, one designed to streamline the connection between the residents of the neighborhood who attend the Bayou Boogaloo and the effort to restore the bayou itself.

“We planted a few couple hundred gallon live oaks two years ago, and then this year we planted some much larger trees, which are the largest that we could find that have ever been planted in Louisiana,” Faulks said. “We’ve been really focused on that campaign, and I think this is going to be a great way to highlight our continuing efforts to restore the tree canopy.”

Sometimes Mother Nature doesn’t want to play along, though. The largest shade tree along the Mid-City section of Bayou St. John was struck by a lightning bolt and killed, leaving behind a poignant reminder of how much work still needs to be done.

But it also created an opportunity for art to flourish along the bayou once again. Artist Marlin Miller began carving the tree to reflect the art and culture of New Orleans last year, a project Faulks said he will finish off this year with an image of a Mardi Gras Indian facing the bayou.

“When lightning strikes a tree like that, the sap in it crystallizes into a resin, and it makes it really, really hard, so it’s perfect for the kind of carving he does,” Faulks said. “Marlon burns through a lot of saw blades doing it, but it’s a statue. It was a way for us to create something for the community that is going to be there for years.”

In many ways, that is how Faulks views the Bayou Boogaloo itself.

“Part of what is so wonderful about the Boogaloo is that it is part of the community identity,” he said. “I think probably the most special thing about it is it makes art and music accessible to anyone. Anyone from any economic class can come down there and enjoy music and engage with hand made art and get some good food. There aren’t a lot of opportunities like that for people in this community, unfortunately, and it’s nice to be able to steward a festival and a program that does that.”