A beautiful landmark in local music news, community radio station WWOZ will be celebrating 30 years on the air with a Birthday Bash this Saturday, December 4. The venue for the party will be the place where the station got its start—Tipitina’s Uptown. Thirty years ago, WWOZ aired from the upstairs beer storage room at Tip’s, where the DJ would drop a microphone through the floor and air the live music coming from below. Since then, the station has found new homes (currently at the French Market) and has become the flagship radio station of the New Orleans music community.

WWOZ's old studio in Armstrong Park. Photo courtesy of WWOZ.

To mark the anniversary, the folks at ‘OZ are throwing a huge celebration. WWOZ’s Development Support Director Crystal Gross says they want to throw a “heck of a good party.” She says, “We just want to say thank you to everyone who’s been supporting the station for the past 30 years…say thank you to everyone at home first.” To show their gratitude, organizers are keeping the ticket prices to a mere $10 so that more people can attend.

The Birthday Bash will feature music by the WWOZ All Stars with Kirk Joseph, John “Papa” Gros, Theresa Anderson, Willie Green, Shamarr Allen, DJ Soul Sister and many more. There will also be a second line led by the Treme Brass Band and the Camel Toe Lady Steppers beginning at noon. The second line departs from the corner of Decatur and Elysian Fields, follows a route through Royal and Toulouse, and ends at the French Market.

The party at Tipitina’s starts at 10 p.m. Tickets are on sale now at Tipitinas.com. For more information, visit WWOZ.org.