AARP Hearing Center
The Woodstock generation that invented music festivals has also outgrown them. Weekend electronic dance marathons? Pass. Stale pretzels and flat beer between metal blasts in a barren field? Pass. A three-day classic rock revue with peace, love and no chairs? Hard pass.
There is one, however, that is made for grownup music lovers and, appropriately enough, it's in the Big Easy.
The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival is the answer for those 50 and older who want a multiday musical getaway without the boot camp hardships.
The annual event, in its 49th year, takes place across two weekends, this year April 27-29 and May 3-6, at New Orleans’ Fair Grounds Race Course, 10 minutes from the French Quarter. The agenda: Laissez
les
bons
temps
rouler
.
Music will be flowing simultaneously from a dozen stages, and we're talking all kinds of music. Don’t let the festival name fool you. While contemporary and traditional jazz play a pivotal role, every genre that’s ever been stirred into the city’s gumbo of sound is represented, including blues, R&B, Cajun, zydeco, gospel, folk, Latin, rock, rap, bluegrass, Afro-Caribbean, country
and
pop.
And while this year’s lineup beckons youth with hot names like Khalid, Common
and
Cage the Elephant, it’s top-heavy with veterans — from Rod Stewart, Sting and Lionel Richie to Sheryl Crow, Bonnie Raitt, Smokey Robinson and the Steve Miller Band. Among those making their Jazz Fest debut are Aerosmith, Jack White, David Byrne
and
Beck.