New Orleans Jazz Fest Moves To October

New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival presented by Shell has announced it is moving to Oct. 8-17 this year, with details about the lineup coming in the spring. 

“We are all ready to get together again and share that special spirit that lives at Jazz Fest,” Jazz Fest producer and director Quint Davis said in a statement. “It’s taking longer than we want, but we’ll all have our celebration when the time comes. Your health, along with the health of our musicians, food and crafts vendors, and all of the folks that work to make the magic happen, remains the priority as we plan the return of Jazz Fest.”

Details about ticket exchanges and refunds will be made available in the coming weeks and ticketholders will be contacted directly by the festival’s ticket office. 

The event was originally scheduled to take place April 22 – May 1, when it has traditionally staged for 50 years. Last year’s event was to feature The Who, Dead & Company, Stevie Nicks, Foo Fighters, Lizzo, Lionel Richie, The Lumineers, The Black Crowes and many more, but was officially canceled in April because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jazz Fest is now a co-production with AEG Presents and celebrated 50 years in 2019 with Dave Matthews Band, Katy Perry, Chris Stapleton, Jimmy Buffett & The Coral Reefer Band, Pitbull, Santana, Diana Ross, Van Morrison, Al Green and many more. 

Davis told Pollstar in 2019: “The only reason we have Katy Perry and The Rolling Stones is because AEG got them for us – pretty good partners to have (laughs). It’s been beyond heaven, it’s been really great.  When I got the call that this could be the year from Paul Gongaware from Concerts West, I’m like ‘woof.’ Paul Gongaware never stopped trying to steer them to Jazz Fest – not convincing them it was a cool thing to do, they knew that.”

The Rolling Stones and then Fleetwood Mac were scheduled to play the 2019 edition, but both had to cancel because of health concerns from Mick Jagger and Stevie Nicks.