New Orleans Blues and Jazz Festival Returns to Worcester

Saturday, June 15, 2013

Jeffrey Starr, GoLocalWorcester Contributor

Paulie's New Orleans Blues and Jazz Festival features authentic Louisiana Blues, Jazz, Country and so much more. Photo courtesy of CollyerPhoto.

Paulie's New Orleans Jazz and Blues Festival is coming to the Keystone Plaza Urban Fairgrounds in Worcester for the sixth time beginning Friday, June 21st. The three day music festival celebrates the food and music of New Orleans.

The event began in 2008 as a simple neighborhood party, but over the last few years it has morphed into a full-fledged cultural phenomenon, attracting people from all over the country and abroad. Close to twenty well-known acts are set to perform over a full three day period, blending authentic Louisiana blues, jazz, country, funk and zydeco music in an urban setting.

"The musicians that we book are in big demand. They perform at festivals, theatres and the like all over the world... Paulie's New Orleans Jazz n' Blues Festival is slowly gaining a reputation as a quality urban venue to perform at," remarks Paul Collyer, the organizer of the event.

"What the festival lacks in size it makes up for in quality from the food and refreshments to the hospitality. Most of our musicians are from the City of New Orleans and in New Orleans it is not unusual, but actually the norm, to have a festival in the street, a person's backyard or parking lot. Paulie's New Orleans Jazz n' Blues Festival feels like home to the musicians and with so many from Louisiana, even more so."

For a complete listing of performing musicians please visit the festival website.

Great Value to the Community

Newcomers to the festival are in for a treat. Either they will hear the familiar sounds of their favorite genres performed in an expertly-crafted fashion or they will have a wholly new experience, hearing sounds that they may not get much exposure to, especially in this part of the country.

"The musical experience is the number one thing that we hope they [attendees] get out of it...Paulie's New Orleans Jazz n' Blues Festival talent is as good as any festival in the country," remarks Paulie.

"Most radio is top ten dominated fluff today...the musicians at Paulie's New Orleans Jazz n' Blues Festival perform their own music and it is fresh. It is also diverse - we have funk, soul, blues, rock n' roll, zydeco and cajun sounds."

The festival is quickly becoming a local staple. It is certainly a boon to the economy thanks to the numerous tourists that come into the city, but in a more intangible way, and perhaps more importantly, it makes people aware of the vibrant cultural scene in Worcester that seems to be getting more potent every day.

"It is part of the City of Worcester renaissance.....it's one more reason to stay in the city to be entertained and not have to travel to Boston, Providence and New York. It is also attracting people from all over and this adds an economic bang to the city - hotels get booked (the fest alone has 70 rooms booked for the musicians), restaurant and saloon seats are filled, gas is bought, bottled water is bought, people get lost and they get to see how wonderful the city is," says Paulie.

For more information please visit the Paulie's New Orleans Jazz and Music Festival website or click here. The Keystone Plaza Urban Fairgrounds is located at 221 Chandler Street in Worcester.