Saturday, February 27 is going to be a big day for Bernie Sanders supporters across Louisiana. While we’ve already reported on benefit shows for the Senator’s underdog presidential campaign in New Orleans and Lafayette, it looks like a second pro-Sanders concert will go down in the Crescent City that day.
Bern Fest is scheduled to take over the Maple Leaf at 8pm on Saturday the 27th, right after the New Orleans Musicians for Bernie Sanders show wraps up at 30/90 on Frenchmen Street. The event will feature performances from Eric “Benny” Bloom (Lettuce, Pretty Light), Luke Quaranta (Toubab Krewe, Pirate’s Choice), Billy Franklin (Smoke N Bones), Sam Price (Honey Island Swamp Band), Raja Kassis (Antibalas), Terrence Houston (Funky Meters, toubba Krewe), Max Moran (Donald Harrison Jr.), Sam Dickey (Benyoro), Cliff Hines (Mike Dillon Band), Kyle Roussell, Thomas Glass, Doug Dietrich, Kyle Sharamitaro, Kyle Cripps, Amy Trail and more. There will also be free boiled crawfish from 8-10pm.
“I have been following Bernie Sanders’ career for some time,” explains Quaranta. “He is truly one of the most progressive and unique politicians in modern history. The issues he is championing as he makes his run for the White House are the real issues facing our country. Global Warming, Income Inequality, Institutional Racism, our broken Criminal Justice System, and Wall Street and Corporate America’s pursuit of more and more power, money and influence. I am passionate about Bernie’s campaign and the mirror he is holding up to American Society.”
“I wanted to do something more than post on Facebook and give my $10 donations periodically,” he continues. “In speaking with Billy Franklin and Eric Bloom, we decided to put on a benefit concert to raise money and awareness for the campaign. Paulina Trujillo was kind enough (and also feeling the Bern!) to let us do it at one of our favorite places, the Maple Leaf. It turns out to be on a national day of action and we are joined by two other events in New Orleans on the same day, a March for Bernie and a Rally on Frenchmen St. It will be a great day!”
Admission to Bern Fest will require a $10 donation. Attendees are encouraged to donate more, and there will be laptops on site to make that possible. Proceeds will cover event expenses, with the remaining funds going to the Bernie Sanders campaign.
Senator Bernie Sanders (D-VT) is currently campaigning to be the Democratic Party’s nominee for President of the United States in 2016. He recently lost the Nevada caucus to challenger Hillary Clinton, though he defeated her by a large margin in the New Hampshire primary two weeks ago.
A few more states will hold their primaries and caucuses before Louisiana hosts its primary on March 5. Sanders last held a rally in the state on July 26, 2015, when 4,500 people came out to see him speak at the Pontchartrain Center in Kenner, LA.
