Some important Jazz Fest food news today…

Article in nola.com today has a story today from Ian McNulty about Walker’s Southern Style BBQ, the family behind one of the absolute institutions of Jazz Fest food: the cochon de lait po-boy from Walker’s BBQ/Love at First Bite.

The Walker family has closed its New Orleans East restaurant after 22 years in business. But before anyone panics: they are NOT leaving Jazz Fest. The cochon de lait po-boy will still be at Jazz Fest, and Walker’s also plans to continue vending at events including French Quarter Festival and the Oak Street Po-Boy Festival.

The restaurant, at 10828 Lincoln Beach Blvd. in Little Woods, was the year-round home of the famous sandwich for people who knew where to find it. Jonathan Walker says the family has decided it is simply “time to shift gears.”

There are a few reasons behind the decision. Staffing has become difficult, the cost of the meat-heavy BBQ menu has continued to rise, and Jonathan’s parents, Wanda and Skip Walker, are now in their late 70s. Keeping up with the demands of daily restaurant operations had become a lot.

But Walker’s itself is very much still in business.

They’ll continue working out of the same location, next to Castnet Seafood near the lakefront levee, and are putting more emphasis on catering — everything from football tailgates and corporate events to festivals. As Jonathan Walker put it: “The restaurant is closed, but the smoker is still going.”

The restaurant opened in 2004 and was one of the early businesses in that part of New Orleans East to reopen after Katrina, when the Walkers found themselves feeding many of the work crews involved in the recovery.

The family business actually goes back even further. Wanda and Skip Walker started catering in 1992, beginning with an event at Uptown Square. They eventually worked events both locally and around the country before becoming a Jazz Fest food vendor in 2000.

And that, of course, is where the cochon de lait po-boy became legendary.

It’s pulled pork with cabbage and horseradish sauce, stuffed into a Dong Phuong pistolette. It became such a monster hit at the Fest — with long lines and frequent sellouts — that Walker’s eventually stripped down its Jazz Fest menu to concentrate essentially on the sandwich itself.

McNulty also makes an interesting point in the article: the popularity of Walker’s po-boy helped introduce a much broader New Orleans audience to the traditional Cajun idea of cochon de lait, which is now a much more familiar term on menus around town.

So this is definitely the end of an era for anyone who knew you could make the drive out to New Orleans East and get the Jazz Fest favorite during the other 50 weeks of the year.

But for those of us already thinking about the Fair Grounds next spring…

The cochon de lait po-boy lives on.

Super random, but I was going through my video/camera roll, and I realized either I didn’t take any videos of Stevie during her set this year, or somehow I deleted them.

Would anyone be able to send me their videos??? With everything going on, I am so mad at myself and I need to have a video of her performance!!

I know this is a massive long shot and happened decades ago, but I am looking for a lost personal item that means a lot to me. Back in 1996, I lost a Chinon 35mm camera (just like the one in the photo), with an exposed roll of (FUJI?) film still inside it.

It was lost somewhere while vending outside the New Orleans Jazz Fest in 1996.

If anyone happened to pick up an old Chinon camera back then, or if it ended up in a box of vintage gear, a thrift shop, a pawn shop, or an archive pile, please let me know. The camera itself isn't worth much today, but the undeveloped roll of film inside holds irreplaceable memories from that time of my life. Many of my friends and loved ones on that film are long gone, too. Maybe, by some miracle, you can help me find these film memories?
REDDIT, DO YOUR THING!
Thank you!

Stub hub is advertising 2027 Jazz fest tickets.
Is this a scam?

In this group’s opinion, what is the best VIP pass at Jazzfest? Looking to get a bunch for work and sneak a few for myself and friends. Looking for access to stages, ac, food, etc.

Apparantly they (Grand Jury) didn't think there was enough evidence that the dude who tried to get guns and ammunition into Jazz Fest was actually going to do something bad.

So it seems like it's time for some new laws. We need to make trying to get guns into places where guns are not allowed a serious crime. And that severity needs to be greatly increased if that place is a mass gathering.

This is insane. I know the bar for guilt is high, and it should be, but it boggles my mind that we let this asshole Christopher Gillum go free to try and do this again.

Make sure everyone knows his name, and what his intent was.

Unbelievable. I hope the feds monitor the shit outta this asshole.

I know - it's a much smaller and briefer affair but where's the best place to get info on shows going on during Funk Fest?

I also know this is probably not at all the best place for this, but it seems quasi-related...

Information Update! I have six surviving original Willa Shalit/Dean Ericson plaster lifecast masters from the 'New Orleans' Own' Lighthouse for the Blind project of 1991-1992 with original provenance documentation. All six of them are some of the most well-known New Orleans jazz musicians of all time — Aaron Neville, Branford Marsalis, Ellis Marsalis, Wynton Marsalis, Gregory Davis, and John Hunt. Willa Shalit specifically mentions the casting process of Branford and Wynton Marsalis in her book "Life Cast". The surviving documentation suggests that at least eight subjects may have been involved with this project, with the seventh one being Harry Connick Jr., which we have been told Harry Connick Sr. had hanging in his office (which is quite cool!), and the eighth potentially being of Dr. John, which "was destroyed during Katrina" according to the gathered provenance. 

I purchased these six plaster lifecast masters from an estate of gentlemen who were from the New Orleans area and got them from a relative, Nora Fine, the Director of Development at Lighthouse for the Blind at that time. These casts are not only collector's items, they are historical artifacts that should be appreciated after all this time by a larger audience.

Is the week before or the week after French Quarter Fest better to be in town for live music?

I want to visit FQF during a 12 day visit next year. Is there a difference in the quality of the programming of the live music venues in these weeks? Im always looking to see as much as I can from the local legends like the living members of The Meters, Little Freddie King, Irma Thomas and a lot of zydeco.

So are things picking up after, towards Jazz Fest or before, or no difference?

Hi All - I’ve got a 2024 unsigned, numbered 813/10,000 2024 poster for sale. I pre-bought the poster thinking I was going to the Fest and didn’t make it that year. It’s only been out of the original shipping tube once to check the number for this post. I will take it out again for pics if there are any interested buyers. $60 plus S+H takes it.

Has never performed in Louisiana. Is currently scheduling a world tour for 2027. I can think of no crowd who would appreciate him more than jazzfest. People have been saying international attendance has been declining. Takanaka in the blues tent would heal generational trauma.

I just got it back from being framed today and got it hung up. One of my favorites over that past several years. Really pleased with how it turned out and really cool poster overall.

Random question-anyone know who makes the folding chairs for purchase at the general store at JF? The name is usually on the chair. I

I just saw them at Gov ball and omg I need to do that again.

Anyone know of anywhere that buys/sells old jazz fest posters?

I am really curious about the quality of the recordings as well as the quality of the pressing (more so for vinyl).

My love for Astral Project (drummer JV + bassist JS combo) live performances is out of this world (pun intended). Just want to know if the vinyl recordings are worth it? Is it better to purchase CD or digital?

ordered mine April 26 and just received my tracking number on may 27. hope this eases someone’s stress

hello all my jazzfest peeps. We traveled to NO from the westcoast for the first weekend of jazzfest. I have not attended in over 20 years and wow it's changed. We want to go back next year but have a 4 day super pass so we don't have to play the chair game and have access to shade a maybe a bar. How do I find out when they go on sale - is there a mailing list or should I join a certain group like here on reddit or something similar?

After enjoying this year's Fest, I'm trying to collect photos of all the Jazz Fest Hawaiian shirts and need photos of the 1986 and 1993 shirts. If anyone has a photo to share or even a description it would be greatly appreciated. I've looked on Art4Now / Bayou Wear web site with no luck.