Eatin' Best at the Fest!

 Strawberry Ice from Brocato's

My first Jazz Fest was many things; the most sweaty I've even been in my life, the most money I've ever spent on food and water bottles at a festival, and one of the best music festivals I've ever been to.

 

Brocato's Cannoli

Jazz fest food was about what I was expecting. Everything you could buy to eat was basically New Orleans food like jambalaya, Po Boys, muffelettas and many New Orleans fixtures that do not sell Cajun or Creole cuisine such as Mona's Cafe and Brocato's. The most popular item seemed to be the Mango Freeze sold by WWOZ.

 Jambalaya

What I thought was unique about Jazz Fest is how equal it makes everyone who goes. Whether you are rich or poor, in the end you have virtually the same experience as everyone else who goes to the fest. You stand in the baking heat, you eat the same food, get searched for contraband, and you fight to the front like everyone else. This creates a much more New Orleans experience than that of other jazz festivals I have been to. Monterey Jazz Festival, one of the world's oldest jazz festivals, for instance, has a stage which requires special (expensive) tickets. This is a stark contrast to the jazzfest experience where it is basically a free for all at all of the stages (except the VIP area in front of the Acura stage).

Cafe Reconcile's Strawberry Lemonade