From the Congo to Cuba, from Brazil to Basin Street and New Orleans "bounce," the universal drum will beat in Armstrong Park on March 24 and 25, when the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation presents the fifth annual Congo Square New World Rhythms Festival. WWNO's Paul Maassen spoke with Scott Aiges of the NOJ&HF about the festival.
Admission to the festival is free . More details available at the Jazz & Heritage Foundation website.
The Congo Square New World Rhythms Festival is the premier world-music event in New Orleans. Celebrating the rich cultural heritage of Louisiana, the festival showcases the influences from Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America that combined in the Crescent City to make New Orleans a melting pot of world culture.
Congo Square is the location just outside of New Orleans' French Quarter where, starting in the mid-1700s, African slaves were permitted to gather on Sunday afternoons to practice their ancestral traditions of drumming and dance. Visitors from around the world marveled at the rich culture. It was the mix of African influences with those from Europe, Latin America and elsewhere that led to the development of jazz and all that followed. Congo Square is truly the birthplace of American music.
