• For the first time in its history, the festival has added an additional day. Dubbed ‘Locals Lagniappe Day,’ Thursday, April 7th will open the festival. An eclectic mix of artists, chosen because they are local favorites, include: Los Hombres Calientes, Benny Grunch and the Bunch, Kipori Woods, and The Preservation Hall-Stars will play opening day. Jackson Square will be open from noon to 5 p.m. and the Riverfront (Woldenberg Riverfront Park), with four stages, will run from 3 – 7 p.m. New Orleans’ finest restaurants – otherwise known as ‘The World’s Largest Jazz Brunch’ will be serving in Jackson Square and on the Riverfront.
• The House of Blues has joined the festival as a sponsor and partner. New for 2011 will be a House of Blues Stage on Decatur Street in close proximity to the venue. The TGIF ‘Thank Goodness it’s Festival!’ kickoff party on Wednesday, April 6th moves to the House of Blues for the first time, and takes place from 7-10 p.m. with Bluesman Little Freddie King in the VooDoo Garden and Rockin’ Dopsie, Jr. and the Zydeco Twisters in the Music Hall. A special Gospel Brunch menu will be served. In addition, House of Blues will continue to host its food booth on the Riverfront and will become an ‘official’ merchandise outlet of the French Quarter Festival.
• For 2011, the Monteleone Hotel has joined the festival as the official hotel sponsor. The always popular Classical Music Stage, will move to the Monteleone this year with performances on Saturday and Sunday. The Classical Stage features performances by some of the most respected performers from the area including: Harpist Rachel Van Voorhees, Guitarist John Rankin, members of the New Orleans Opera, the Louisiana Philharmonic and more. It has been said that ‘the French Quarter begins in the lobby of the Hotel Monteleone’. This beautiful and historic hotel sits majestically at the foot of Royal Street.
• 2011 brings the return of the Latin World Stage to French Quarter Festival. The popular high energy stage returns to the Old U.S. Mint and will feature artists such as Freddie Omar con su Banda, Los Po-Boy-Citos, Ensemble Fatien featuring Seguenon Kone, Ovi-G and the Froggies, Zion Trinity, Higher Heights Reggae and Mas Mamones.
• The ever-popular Children’s Headquarters will be expanded on the Audubon Aquarium Riverfront Plaza and made possible in part through an exciting partnership with Chevron and Audubon Institute. Anchoring the Children’s Headquarters will be a new Kids’ Performance Tent and interactive family activities, including hands-on cooking demonstrations with Whole Foods; yoga and karate for kids; face painting and activities courtesy of Tulane Hospital for Children; Junior Rangers activities sponsored by the New Orleans Jazz National Historic Park, and more. This year, the Children’s Headquarters will once again focus on educating families about ‘healthy kids’ programs in a fun and interactive way. Performances in the Kids Tent are sponsored by Tulane Hospital for Children and the New Orleans Jazz National Historic Park.

Great partnerships return to French Quarter Festival

In order to keep French Quarter Festival free and open to the public, the organization relies heavily on the contributions of sponsors and partners, beverage and merchandise sales, and vendor fees. For 2011, the festival is thrilled to welcome back Capital One Bank, as Presenting Sponsor. “The French Quarter Festival is a vibrant, fun event that celebrates one of America’s most historic and cherished neighborhoods, the French Quarter, in a style that is distinctly New Orleans,” said Steve Hemperley, Capital One Bank’s New Orleans Market President. “Capital One Bank is proud to return as presenting sponsor of this great local festival, which offers world-class music and food and provides a significant and positive economic impact to our city, state and region. At Capital One Bank, we are committed to investing in greater New Orleans to help it grow and thrive, and by supporting the French Quarter Festival we’re supporting our local economy.” In addition to their sponsorship of the festival, Capital One Bank will once again host the Second Line Shuttle, providing free shuttle transportation for festival goers three days of festival (Friday through Sunday). Additional busses will run in 2011 to better accommodate festival guests.

In collaboration with BMI, French Quarter Festival welcomes back for its second year the BMI Singer Songwriter Stage at The Historic New Orleans Collection on Royal Street. Broadcast Music, Inc.® (BMI) is an American performing rights organization that represents more than 400,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers in all genres of music and more than 6.5 million works. On Saturday and Sunday of the festival, the BMI Songwriter Stage will feature the region’s finest up-and-comers.

Catering to the technology-savvy festival-goer, the 2011 French Quarter Festival will once again have its own iPhone application. Made possible through a partnership with Applitite, iPhone users will have a personal French Quarter Festival Guide at their fingertips. Applitite, the leader in music festival mobile application providers and also avid festival lovers, has created an application that allows revelers to plan their agenda, get up-to-the-minute updates about the event, and access the festival map and music schedule directly from iPhones and iPod Touches. The application will be available for download prior to French Quarter Festival and can be downloaded through the Apple’s iTunes Store.

2011 also welcomes the return of traditional dance lessons at the French Market Traditional Jazz Stage; Zydeco dance lessons at the Cajun Zydeco Riverfront Stage; and second line dance lessons in the Children’s Headquarters near Audubon Aquarium. Between musical breaks, festival patrons are invited to learn traditional dance-styles such as the Charleston, Swing, Zydeco and Second-line.  Instructors from NOLA Jitterbugs, Fleur de Lindy, Dance Quarter and Dancing Man 504 will be on hand demonstrating and educating visitors on these various dance styles.

Out-of-town festival goers are encouraged to book their travel accommodations now; as many area hotels have reported they have
been enjoying strong reservations since December 2010. April marks the kickoff to festival season in New Orleans. As always, there
is no finer time to visit New Orleans as the spring, especially during the weekend of French Quarter Festival – the largest free music
festival in the South.

Sponsors for French Quarter Festival include: Capital One Bank (Presenting Sponsor), Harrah’s Foundation, Abita Brewing Company, Southern Comfort, General Motors Corporation (GMC Trucks), Coca-Cola, WWL-TV, New Orleans Metropolitan Convention and Visitors Bureau, New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation, Rouses Market, French Market Corporation, Cox Business Louisiana, Chevron, Louisiana Office of Tourism, Musician’s Performance Fund, National Endowment for the Arts, Louisiana State Museum, Community Coffee, Community Arts Grant made possible by the City of New Orleans as administered by the Arts Council of New Orleans, nola.com, Louisiana Lottery, BMI, Continental Airlines, Pat O’s on the River, Hard Rock Café, Court of Two Sisters, Tulane Medical Center, Tulane Hospital for Children at Tulane Medical Center, applitite, New Orleans Jazz National Historic Park, Rolland Lock and Safe, Whole Foods, TRS – The Registration System, WWOZ 90.7 FM, OffBeat magazine, Where Y’at magazine, Windsor Court Hotel, Café Beignet, NOLA Jitterbugs, Fleur de Lindy, dancingman504.com, dancequarter.com, NOLA Baby & Family Magazine, Musical Legends Park, Preservation Hall, The Historic New Orleans Collection, Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse, University of New Orleans Hospitality Research Center, NewOrleans.com, Louisiana Cookin’, Louisiana’s Health & Fitness Magazine, Vocero USA, The New Orleans Levee, Taste of the South Magazine, WWNO 89.9FM, WWL AM870, 102.5 WFMF, 96.1 KRVE, AM1150 WJBO, 101.5 WYNK, 107.5 KCIL, 106.3 KXOR, 96.7 KMYO, and 1490AM KJIN.

French Quarter Festival is produced by French Quarter Festivals, Inc., (FQFI) the 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, which also produces Satchmo SummerFest in August and Christmas New Orleans Style in December. For more information about any of these events, call (504) 522-5730 or visit www.fqfi.org.