A Feast at the Festival

After a ten year hiatus, the Gillette family finally returned to the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. The last time we were in attendance, it was 2015, and I had the best seat in the house. I was atop my dad’s shoulders, and we ended the night watching Elton John perform.

Even though I would be watching all the performances from the ground this year, I was ready. In our sun dresses and floppy hats, we entered the gates of the festival lathered in sunscreen, with ponchos ready (just in case), and smiles plastered on our faces. We walked around the Fair Grounds Race Course, where the festival has been held annually since 1972, hearing jazz, blues, rock, pop, and everything in between. The music was interrupted from the growls of our stomachs. We had a small breakfast to prepare for the day full of eats we had ahead of us. We also did our research on all the new food options, as well as the old classics we had to try.

Come with me through a day full of Jazz Fest eats.

My parents started with a crawfish strudel which is crawfish tails, tomatoes, trinity (onion, bell pepper, and celery), and garlic are mixed with a splash of heavy cream and pepper jack cheese all wrapped up in phyllo dough. It is a fan favorite at the festival.

I decided I wanted a gyro sandwich with sauce on the side from Mona’s Café. I will always be a sauce on the side type of girl. As I unwrapped the sandwich, my mom shared the story of one of my parent’s first dates at Mona’s.

After listening to Cowboy Mouth sing a cover of Fat Bottomed Girls and becoming aware of how sweaty we were from the New Orleans humidity, we decided it was time for a sweet treat, aka my favorite time of the day.  We stopped at Firefly Pops for a gourmet popsicle made from Louisiana strawberries and dipped in chocolate. Their stand was nestled in the kid’s area of the festival which brought me back to my arts and crafts days at Jazz Fest.

We kept on moseying throughout the grounds hearing bands we had never heard of and immediately adding them to all our playlists. My parents, who claim to be pescatarian, found their weakness. Well, everyone’s weakness. Fried chicken. There’s not much to say about fried chicken. It’s always good.

The feast ended with a small cup of Yakamein, commonly known as Old Sober for it’s miraculous abilities to cure hangovers. Yakamein’s origins are traced to the 19th century where “Chinese immigrants worked alongside African Americans on plantations and railroads.” My dad was very excited to stumble upon a booth selling it.

After slurping up the hot soup in the hot sun, we made our way to Pearl Jam’s stage. We were so far away from the band that we felt the vibrations of their music more than we heard the lyrics. With the New Orleans sun setting behind us, we ended the night listening to Laufey. We walked away with full stomachs, sunburns, and an eagerness to be back next year.