The French Quarter Festival continued to grow this year, announcing today that approximately 533,000 people attended the 28th incarnation of the Festival, which took place from Thursday, April 7 to Sunday, April 10 on stages spread throughout the French Quarter. The attendance was an increase of about 20,000 over last year’s Fest—which stood out with a large increase of 70,000 from the 2009 numbers.

French Quarter Festival calculates the number by counting entries at the major stages of the festival (they do not include the stages on Royal, Bourbon, Chartres, or Decatur streets, the French Market stage, or at special events such as Battle of the Bands, Dancing at Dusk, or the Cathedral concert). The raw number of entries is then recalculated to take repeat entries into consideration.

Photos from French Quarter Fest

More French Quarter Fest 2011 by the numbers:

28: years French Quarter Fest has taken place

20: stages that hosted music

90: food or beverage vendors

260: artists who performed

100: percentage of hotel occupancy in the French Quarter on the Friday and Saturday during the festival

145,488: Abita beers poured (the new keg record in Louisiana—at least until a Tulane frat throws their next party)

14,000: Plum Street snoballs made

35,000: pounds of Rouses crawfish boiled