Festival-goers will again enjoy what makes Satchmo SummerFest so special - free jazz performances, delicious local cuisine in Red Bean Alley, educating seminars, children's activities, art exhibits, a "Satchmo Club Strut," a very special evening concert, a Jazz Mass and authentic second-line parade, and much more. With so many festivities planned, it's no wonder why Satchmo SummerFest has quickly become a summertime favorite and one of the Southeast Tourism Society's Top 20 Events. All events held at the Louisiana State Museum's Old U.S. Mint are free and open to the public.

Four outdoor stages on the grounds of the Mint will highlight traditional and contemporary jazz, funky New Orleans brass band music, and performances geared for kids. Traditional jazz performers this year include Armstrong protégé Chris Clifton, Kermit Ruffins, Dr. Michael White, Papa Henry Butler and Banu Gibson. New Orleans legend Ellis Marsalis, jazz innovator Donald Harrison Jr., Philip Manuel, Troy Andrews, and New Orleans Jazz Vipers will be featured on the contemporary stage, and the Brass Band Stage will display the horns of ReBirth Brass Band, Andrew Hall’s Society Brass Band, Pinettes Brass Band, Lil’ Rascals Brass Band and Tremé Brass Band, promising a real blow-out.

The free four-day seminar series includes discussions about the life of Louis Armstrong, and will feature many fascinating speakers: Ellis Marsalis, Jr., as keynote speaker; George Avakian, Armstrong’s producer at Columbia Records in the 1950s and '60s; Michael Cogswell, director of the Louis Armstrong House and Archives, Queens College, NY; John Edward Hasse, Curator of American Music at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C.; Dan Morgenstern, Curator of the Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers University; and Michael “Mr. Jazz” Gourrier.

On Saturday, August 6, a special evening concert will feature Irvin Mayfield and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra with special guests Ellis Marsalis and former Armstrong vocalist Jewel Brown. The concert, which benefits the Dillard University Institute of Jazz Culture and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, will take place at 8:30 p.m. at the Mahalia Jackson Theatre of Performing Arts in Armstrong Park. Tickets are $25-$50 and are available through Ticketmaster.

Satchmo SummerFest is sponsored by Louisiana Office of Tourism, Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation, NOLA.com, OffBeat Magazine, AM 690 WTIX, Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation, Rhodes Funeral Home, New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park, City of New Orleans, Continental Airlines, Kentwood Springs Water Company, and Where Y'At Magazine.

Photo by Don Berryman

Support for the festival is also provided by our Community Partners: American Red Cross, Blaine Kern's Mardi Gras World, Henry's Bakery & Deli, Hotel Provincial, Keep Louisiana Beautiful, Louisiana State Museum's Old U.S. Mint, New Orleans Jazz Centennial Celebration, Omni Royal Orleans Hotel, Pat O'Brien's, St. Augustine Church, WWOZ, and Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club.

Satchmo Summerfest is produced by French Quarter Festivals, Inc. (FQFI), the non-profit organization that also produces the French Quarter Festival in April and Christmas New Orleans Style in December.

For more information, call (800)673-5725, (504)522-5730, or visit www.fqfi.org.