Treme, 7th Ward Festival takes place this Memorial Day Weekend

Editor's Note: This post was originally published in May 23, 2017 and has been updated with the most recent information.

This Memorial Day Weekend, May 26 to 28, the Treme 7th Ward Cultural District will hold its 2nd Annual Treme 7th Ward Festival under the Claiborne underpass between Basin Street and St. Bernard Avenue. Admission to the festival general festival is free.

The festival will host a variety of local music, food, and art. On Friday, May 26, the Cultural District will give two neighborhood tours, starting at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m for $30 per person. A free panel on the cultural impact of the Treme neighborhood will also take place at the festival between 10 to 12 p.m. and 2 to 4 p.m.

Tickets for a Baby Doll Bar Crawl—a tour of nine bars and taverns that are quintessential to the Treme and 7th Ward neighborhoods—are also available for $30.

The free concert starts on Saturday, between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m., and Sunday, between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m., at the Claiborne underpass between Basin Street and St. Bernard Avenue. For a list of performing artists at the 2nd annual Treme/7th Ward Festival, check out the schedule on the Cultural District’s website.

“By all accounts, the first festival was very successful,” says Cheryl Robichaux Austin, the state liaison for the Treme/7th Ward Cultural District. “We had more people than we expected—about 10,000 people attended the festival.”

Robichaux Austin attributed the attendance of the festival to the residents of the neighborhood. She said that many musicians and artist looked forward to sharing the culture with locals and tourists.

“Everybody knows these neighborhoods for music, entertainment, and performance. But we wanted to go deeper than that so people can see why we need to stay in the community, the value of the community, and the historical significance of the community,” says Robichaux Austin.

The Treme 7th Ward Cultural District stems from Bayou Road African American Heritage Cultural Products District, which was founded in 2009. The foundation reinvented itself in 2014 to be more reflective of the Treme and 7th Ward neighborhood, and was later named Treme 7th Ward Cultural District.

“The 7th ward is never recognized for the contribution to the city, like masking tradition, and the creole culture, and the African culture,” Robichaux Austin says. “We feel like we’re as valuable as many other neighborhood in the city.”

For more information about the Memorial Day festival, visit the official Treme/7th Ward Cultural District official site.

• Treme/7th Ward Cultural District [Official Website]