NEW ORLEANS (August 15, 2019) — The 7th annual Downriver Festival on Saturday, September 7th, 2019 celebrates the environmental, cultural, and economic impact of the Mississippi River and the land it built through live music, panels, children’s activities, and walking tours that explore this year’s theme “Southern Seafood” Festival events occur at the New Orleans Jazz Museum at the Old U.S. Mint from 10:00 am to 7:00 pm. Enjoy the last taste of summer with delicious seafood and other fare from six local Louisiana food vendors.

Live music outside at the New Orleans Jazz Museum at the Mint from 10:00 am to 7:00 pm will include performances by Javier Olondo with AsheSon, Treme-Lafitte Brass Band, Jamie Lynn Vessels, Mayumi Shara, Vincent Hsu and Soy La Ley Afro-Cuban Jazz Band, Arrowhead Brass Band, and the N’awlins Dawlins Babydolls with Kinfolk Brass Band. “Downriver is a celebration of all things New Orleans, and there is no better place than the Jazz Museum, located at the intersection of the Mississippi River, the French Quarter, Marigny and Bywater.” said Greg Lambousy, Director of the New Orleans Jazz Museum. “We will kick things off in the morning of September 7th in Jackson Square. A second line led by the N’awlins Dawlins Babydolls and Kinfolk Brass Band will show revelers the way to the festival. There will be a full line up of great music, of course, but also films, panel discussions, and activities for kids focusing on the Mississippi River and water management. We invite locals and visitors to come relax at the Jazz Museum and enjoy the festival.”

Kinfolk Brass Band and the N’awlins Dawlins Babydolls will start the day off with a second line, beginning in Jackson Square at 10:00 am and heading to New Orleans Jazz Museum.

Food vendors at this year’s Downriver Festival include Carmo, Chef D’z, Van’s Snoballs, Cool Fruit Sensations and Miss Linda’s YakaMein aka “The YakaMein Lady.” Downriver Festival features all local vendors, and the food served will highlight the various influences and traditions of the Gulf Coast cuisine. The Market Umbrella will also feature a farmers market on the festival grounds.

Indoor lectures on the 3rd floor of the New Orleans Jazz Museum from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm will feature a series of panel discussions on a variety of topics including the ways that the seafood industry is embracing technology, how chefs are supporting sustainable fisheries, and a panel called "People Driven Resilience" which will explore the amazing resilience efforts of local organizations and businesses. The New Orleans Jazz Museum will be presenting a panel on “Steamboats Took our Music to the World: Jazz on the River” and Kevin McCaffrey will screen his James Beard finalist film "We Live to Eat: New Orleans' Love Affair with Food." Helen Rose Patterson, Senior Outreach Coordinator for Restore the Mississippi River Delta, shares "With these panels, we are bringing Louisiana's coast and our fisheries directly to the Downriver Festival. Attendees will hear directly from people working to secure a sustainable future for communities and the environment."

The annual Downriver Festival Walking Tour, led by Nathan Lott, is titled “Sewage and Water, What?!” During this walking tour, participants will play an interactive trivia game on facts about Sewage and Water Board and how it has impacted the culture of our water community while also exploring a property that is a part of the Front Yard Initiative Program. The walking tour begins at 9:00 am at the New Orleans Jazz Museum gates on Esplanade Ave, and will intersect with the second line heading back to the festival.

In addition, this year’s Downriver Festival will offer a variety of free educational and artistic activities for children at the Children’s Tent, sponsored generously by the St. Bernard Parish President. The tent will be open from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm and feature crafts and activities by The Green Project, Restore The Mississippi River Delta, National Wildlife Federation, Tulane Center for K-12 STEM Education, New Harmony School, National Park Service and New Orleans Jazz Museum’s Ruth U. Fertel Education Center and Jazz Lab, LSU Ag Center, Louisiana Master Gardeners, Stem Library Lab, and Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program (BTNEP).

Downriver Festival is presented by a coalition of institutions that include the New Orleans Jazz Museum, The French Market Corporation, The New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park, and the Louisiana Museum Foundation, this year’s festival partners include The Louisiana Seafood Board, Louisiana Travel, The Restore the Mississippi River Delta Coalition, Jazzmen Rice, Guitar Center, The Louisiana Children’s Museum, the Consulate General of Mexico in New Orleans, Cervantes Foundation, Water Collaborative, Ripple Effect, WWNO Radio, Gamble Communications, Parish of St. Bernard, Islenos Museum, Offbeat Magazine, Jamalar Agency, UNO Federal Credit Union, WGSO 990AM, Telemundo New Orleans, Tropical 105.7, Euclid Records, LSU AgCenter, Louisiana Master Gardeners, and Tulane’s Center for the Gulf South.

For more information on the Downriver Festival, please visit downriverfest.org or visit us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter @downriverfest.

About The New Orleans Jazz Museum

The New Orleans Jazz Museum celebrates jazz in the city where it was born. Through dynamic interactive exhibits, multigenerational educational programming, research facilities and engaging musical performances, the music New Orleans made famous is explored in all its forms. Through partnerships with local, national and international educational institutions, the New Orleans Jazz Museum promotes the global understanding of jazz as one of the most innovative, historically pivotal musical art forms in world history. For more information on upcoming performances, visit nolajazzmuseum.org. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @NOLAJazzMuseum.