New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival has officially canceled its October 2021 event. The rescheduled event was set to return to the Fair Grounds Race Course on October 8th–10th and 15th–17th, 2021.
As the cancellation announcement notes, “As a result of the current exponential growth of new COVID cases in New Orleans and the region and the ongoing public health emergency, we must sadly announce that the 2021 edition of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival presented by Shell, scheduled to take place October 8 – 17, 2021, will not occur as planned. … In the meantime, we urge everyone to follow the guidelines and protocols put forth by public health officials, so that we can all soon experience together the joy that is Jazz Fest.”
Per the announcement, ticket-holders for both Jazz Fest weekends, including those who rolled tickets over from 2020, will receive an email this week with details about ticket refund and rollover options. All Wednesday, October 13th tickets will be automatically refunded.
The yearly festival has faced an uphill battle since its 50th edition in the spring of 2019. The 2020 edition of the festival, which was set to feature many of the headliners on the newly announced 2021 lineup, was postponed and later canceled.
At the time the 2020 Jazz Fest was canceled, festival organizers aimed to host the next event in the spring of 2021. Those dates, too, were pushed back to October as the pandemic picture continued to develop. Now, Jazz Fest and presenter Shell have once again thrown in the towel on these dates and are looking instead to the event’s typical spring dates, set for April 19th–May 8th, 2022.
Weekend one of the canceled New Orleans Jazz Fest 2021 was set to feature performances by Dead & Company, Foo Fighters, Lizzo, The Black Crowes, Demi Lovato, Brandi Carlile, Wu-Tang Clan ft. The Soul Rebels, Ludacris, Ziggy Marley: Songs of Bob Marley, Randy Newman, The Revivalists, Tank and the Bangas, Galactic, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Kermit Ruffins & the Barbeque Swingers, Cyril Neville, Boyfriend, Hurray for the Riff Raff, Charlie Musselwhite, and many more.
For the second weekend of the event, Jazz Fest 2021 was set to welcome Stevie Nicks, Jimmy Buffett & The Coral Reefer Band, H.E.R., Norah Jones, Tedeschi Trucks Band, The Beach Boys, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, Jon Batiste, Elvis Costello & The Imposters, Brittany Howard, Irma Thomas, Melissa Etheridge, The Isley Brothers, Nile Rodgers & CHIC, Boz Scaggs, Rickie Lee Jones, Ledisi, Tower of Power, Big Freedia, Keb’ Mo’ Band, PJ Morton, Playing for Change Band, Samantha Fish, Terence Blanchard feat. The E-Collective, Rebirth Brass Band, Shovels & Rope, Asleep at the Wheel, Terri Lyne Carrington + Social Science, Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk, The Radiators, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, George Porter Jr. & Runnin’ Pardners, and more.
In addition, the now-canceled New Orleans Jazz Fest had added an extra day on Wednesday, October 13th to accommodate a special performance by The Rolling Stones.
This story is developing.
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