JAZZ FEST 2006 PLANS UNDERWAY

JAZZ FEST 2006 PLANS UNDERWAY
Yes, Virginia, Jazz Fest is going to happen in New Orleans this year.
From the Times-Picayune, New Orleans:

Organizers of the 2006 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival intend to put on what they describe as a world-class event at the Fair Grounds beginning on its traditional weekend in April. [April 28-May 7] Unlike plans announced this week for a scaled-down Mardi Gras, Jazzfest officials say their intention is the opposite: to stage a festival that is bigger and better than ever, one that will help to reignite tourism in the Crescent City. "The goal is, unanimously, to try and hold a major Jazzfest here," said David Oestreicher, president of Jazz Fest's governing board. "One that hopefully will be a world-shaking event. . . . We think that we will be the watershed event that will jump- start the tourist economy for this part of the world."

Also present at the board's North Rampart Street offices were representatives of AEG Live, the entertainment conglomerate that co-produced the 2005 Jazzfest, and Churchill Downs Inc., the Louisville, Ky., company that bought the Fair Grounds in 2004. They emerged with an ambitious plan: to stage the 2006 Jazzfest in its traditional season and at its traditional home at the Fair Grounds.

"The foundation is dedicated to seeing that this is the best Jazzfest ever," said Don Marshall, Executive Director of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival and Foundation. "Our intentions are to make sure that it is on the same scale (as 2005), if not larger."Organizers hope to announce definite plans for Jazzfest '06 by mid-December.