Out of an abundance of caution due to a surge in the Omicron variant of COVID-19, the Danny Barker Banjo and Guitar Festival has been postponed until March 16-19 at the New Orleans Jazz Museum and other venues. The festival had been scheduled for January 12-15.

Detroit Brooks, organizer of the festival, announced that a patron party at the Terrell House will be rescheduled for Wednesday, March 16Jazz concerts, film screenings and panel discussions will take place at the New Orleans Jazz Museum on March 18 and 19. A Danny Barker Birthday tribute will be held at Snug Harbor on Thursday, January 13, with a smaller-capacity and controllable seated format and a requirement that all patrons provide proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test within 72 hours.

The mission of the Danny Barker Banjo and Guitar Festival is to showcase and highlight the many contributions and accomplishments of NEA Jazz Master Danny Barker (1909-1994). A musician, singer, songwriter, educator, raconteur extraordinaire and author, Barker who played guitar and banjo with many top jazz artists over the course of his 70-plus year career and served as a mentor to numerous young New Orleans artists who have since come to prominence, including Wynton Marsalis, Herlin Riley, Leroy Jones, Gregg Stafford and Dr. Michael White.

This is a developing story that will continue to be updated. For more information, visit the festival’s website.

On December 26, the Louisiana Department of Health announced that 449 people in Louisiana were hospitalized with COVID-19—a figure that doubled within one week. The last time the department reported this many COVID-19 hospitalizations was mid-October, when Louisiana was grappling with the fourth and then-worst COVID-19 surge. Eighty percent of patients currently hospitalized with COVID-19 are not fully vaccinated.