Good news: the Ninth Ward’s quirky ChazFest, which took a year off last year, returns to the city this year. Named by OffBeat as “Best Neighborhood Festival” at its Best of The Beat Awards, the all-day festival returns this year on the Wednesday between the  two Jazz Fest weekends (April 29).

ChazFest: music in your own backyard. (Photo: Elsa Hahne)

The “festival” started as a means for musicians who hadn’t made the Jazz Fest lineup to showcase their talent while Jazz Festers partied in New Orleans. Most of the musicians, including songwriter/guitarist Alex McMurray, lived at the Truck Farm, a Bywater compound with shotgun houses and a recording studio sharing a common backyard. The event is, of course, is named for McMurray’s friend and collaborator Chaz “Washboard” Leary and is as New Orleans as it gets.

The lineup is still “under construction” but will certainly leak out soon enough. We love that one of the stages is named “The Hard Liquor Stage.”

Chaz Fest tickets are $30 in advance, and $35 at the “yard.” Preorder now at chazfestival.com/tickets.