Watermelon Sacrifice

A large part of Jazzfest fun consists of seeing extremely weird, random stuff that you would never encounter in everyday life. A fine example of such an event is the "Watermelon Sacrifice." The sacrifice takes place at the Fais Do-Do Stage on the first Friday of the Fest, between the second-to-last and last bands of the day. I could try to explain exactly what occurs, but I think this website does a far better job of doing so than I possibly could.

However, so Nate, Josh and I can be ready, I will put the lyrics of the "sacrificial chant" here for anyone who wants to practice up:

Watermelon, Watermelon Red to the Rind,
If you don't believe me, just pull down your blind
Sell it to rich, Sell it to the poor,
Sell it to the lady Standin in da do-or-or,
In da do-or-or

Sacrificing fruit -- it doesn't get much weirder -- or more fun. Only in New Orleans!

Tickets

Although it would seem simple, there are some hoops to jump through to get the best deals on tickets (and avoid Ticketbastards surcharges).

Tickets are at their cheapest ($20 per day) if you buy them before February 22, 2005. If you buy them after that date, they go up to $25 per day. If you wait until the day of the event, they go up to $35 (and you have to deal with lines). Buy early and save cash for beers at the Fest!

Also, you can avoid ticket surcharges by purchasing through the mail. Starting tomorrow, you can print out a mail-order form at the Fest website. Order by mailing in the form and save even more beer money (and keep cash out of the coffers of evil Ticketbastard).

For complete ticket-ordering information and the mail-order form, click here.

Fest Schedule Released

Let the speculation end. The Lineup for the 2005 New Orleans Jazzfest was released today. Attendance-wise, it certainly seems like they are trying to have a huge second weekend. Big acts include:

Weekend One

Friday, April 22

Cowboy Mouth, Steve Winwood, Wilco, Buckwheat Zydeco, Ozomatli, The Black Crowes

Saturday, April 23

The Original Meters Reunion: Art, Zig, George & Leo, James Taylor, The Roots, Buddy Guy, Dave Bartholomew, Luciano, Irma Thomas

Sunday, April 24

Dr. John, Nelly, Artist TBA, ¡El Dia Latino presentando Juanes, Victor Manuelle, y mas!, Smokie Norful, G. Love & Special Sauce, Rebirth Brass Band (Also one more major act TBA)

Weekend Two

Thursday, April 28

B.B. King, Jack Johnson, Nickel Creek, Los Hombres Calientes, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, the subdudes, Papa Grows Funk, Clarence “Frogman” Henry, Donavon Frankenreiter

Friday, April 29

Better Than Ezra, Widespread Panic, Randy Newman, Marcia Ball, Jamie Cullum (Also one more major act TBA)

Saturday, April 30
Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Dave Matthews Band, Anthony Hamilton, Elvis Costello, Galactic, Toots & the Maytals, Evangelist Shirley Caesar, Ike Turner & the Kings of Rhythm

Sunday, April 31
The Neville Brothers, Trey Anastasio, Isaac Hayes, Steel Pulse, Los Lonely Boys, The Radiators

May all your favorites be present! Visit here for the full listings.

Welcome

Hey y'all. I'm starting this blog as a resource for Festers, young and old, rookie or veteran. I'm going to post Fest Commentary, Links to helpful Fest websites, Fest tips, etc. Feel free to comment on the posts to add your own Fest knowledge.

Hopefully, if we all put together our combined Jazzfest knowledge, maybe, just maybe, we'll have 1/1,000,000th the Fest knowledge of Joe Keenan. So without further ado, let the posting commence!