FRENCH QUARTER FESTIVAL. (New Orleans, La.) – April 7-10. The French Quarter Festival in New Orleans began as a neighborhood gathering more than 30 years ago, but it has since grown into “The World’s Largest Block Party” where visitors can join locals to enjoy the best of Louisiana music, food and culture, all for free. Featuring more than 800 musicians on 20 stages, 65 food-and-beverage vendors, works by New Orleans’ top artists and kid-friendly attractions, the 32nd annual French Quarter Festival is set for April 7 through 10. Staged over a half dozen blocks between Bourbon Street and the Mississippi Riverfront, there is no admission charge for the festival and fences do not enclose the site. Festivalgoers are free to come and go as they would at any block party. French Quarter Festival Second-Line Kickoff Parade will step off at 10 a.m. Thursday, April 7, from the 100 block of Bourbon Street and makes its way to Jackson Square. Performers for 2016 include Cowboy Mouth, Buckwheat Zydeco and Sonny Landreth making debuts, as well as Rory Danger & the Danger Dangers, Gina Brown & Anutha Level, Meschiya Lake and the Little Big Horns, trumpeter Wendell Brunious, guitarist Carl LeBlanc, Big Chief Bo Dollis Jr. & the Wild Magnolias, Panorama Jazz Band, John “Papa” Gros, Robin Barnes, Charmaine Neville, Gal Holiday and the Honky Tonk Revue, Guitar Slim, Jr., T-
