Jazz Fest’s Rebound Limited

The 40th New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in Louisiana reportedly had the highest turnout of fans to date but it wasn’t enough to help the local economy as in previous years.

Organizers said the post-Hurricane Katrina event’s April 24-26 and April 30 to May 3 run brought in about 400,000 concertgoers to see hundreds of acts including Tony Bennett, Wynton Marsalis, Booker T., Tab Benoit, Erykah Badu, Pete Seeger, Dave Matthews Band, Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, Sugarland and Doc Watson.

The final Saturday’s tally of about 90,000 fans in one day is reportedly the most since the 2005 hurricane.

However, area restaurants and retail shops felt the pinch of the depressed economy.

“We were not as strong as the attendance at Jazz Fest would suggest we should have been,” restaurant chain owner Ralph Brennan said. “I think it was because people just aren’t spending money the way they usually do. The national economy is making people conscious of what they spend.”

Attendees were also not allowed to leave and re-enter the festival grounds during the 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. time frame, which some business owners speculated contributed to the downturn in sales.