BUKU Fest began Friday. It is the first large music festival in the city since the pandemic began.
BUKU was all set to go in late March, 2020, when the pandemic hit, forcing it to cancel. Other festivals, like French Quarter Fest and Jazz Fest, soon followed. So having BUKU back in the shadow of the old Market Street power plant next to Mardi Gras World is another sign the city's hospitality and entertainment scene is recovering.
"We have a festival season that begins, really, now," said Mark Romig, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for New Orleans & Company. "It is going to be one great event after the next."
Romig says the event calendar for the spring of 2022 is packed.
"You've got Tennessee Williams Festival, Navy Week will be back the week of the 18th of April, French Quarter Fest, the Jazz Fest," he said. And each festival is an important economic engine for the city's leisure travel industry.
"There are lots of jobs on the line with these festivals," Romig said, "and that's what's exciting, to get this economy back up and moving again."
