Tens of thousands go to the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival each year. Some go every single day. WHO are these people? Some pick a few days. Some choose one day to have fun, hear good music, eat good food and join family and friends, maybe meeting new friends.
Some choose a day based on the cube schedules. They might choose a single artist . They prepare. Some stake out a spot with blankets, tarps or chairs.
A week ago, I was working my scanning shift at the Gentilly fest entrance with the good brothers of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity's Rho Phi Chapter when I got a text from my darling wife. She asked that I get a chair to the Congo Square stage to grab us a spot for the 5 p.m. Fantasia performance.
It was a few minutes before 11 a.m. The gates were about to open.
This was a moment to choose: fraternity fellowship and service or marriage harmony.
I've been trained well. I did the right thing.
A view of the Congo Square stage from behind columnist Will Sutton's purple chair the morning of Saturday, April 27, 2024. He staked a claim to a spot for the Fantasia show later that day. Was it there when he returned? Read his column.
I picked up my purple yard chair, rushed to the fairgrounds track and fast-walked my old, reliable, tried-and-true purple yard chair to Congo Square.
I set up behind the standing-only space and grabbed a front-row spot right at the blue line, evidence that I was in the right space -- the chairs-only section.
I opened the chair I've had for many years, plopped it down with just a few people nearby. We were ready to catch the end of Big Freedia and all of Fantasia, who we've loved since she was a contestant on and won on American Idol in 2004.
I worked my Omega shift until it was time to meet my wife.
Congo Square was packed. My purple chair was nowhere to be found. The few people I saw earlier had gone. Someone took my chair, I thought. Lord, calm my stress.
Fortunately, a kind soul made space for us -- with one chair and a piece of ground.
When the show was over we were heading home. We saw dozens of chairs. Some broken. Some not. You can take your chances and check with fest lost and found to see if someone has turned in your lost item. What are the chances?
As the Congo Square grounds cleared, my wife saw my trusty purple chair. No one stole it. Someone was kind enough to fold it and lay it on the groud -- probably to make room for themselves. I'm not mad at them.
Most fest-goers are out to have a good time. They don't pilfer your stuff.
