Satchmo SummerFest

{{Short description|Music festival in New Orleans, Louisiana}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2022}}

File:Esplanade Satchmofest Parade 2012 (7722245078).jpg

File:Satchmo SummerFest 2018.jpg

Satchmo SummerFest (also known as Satchmofest) is an annual music festival held in New Orleans, Louisiana, in celebration of the jazz trumpeter Louis Armstrong. It is held in early August in order to coincide with August 4, Armstrong's birthday.{{Cite web| title=Robin Barnes, Jeremy Davenport, Kermit Ruffins, more New Orleans musicians gather at Satchmo SummerFest to celebrate the outsize legacy of Louis Armstrong| last=Wirt |first=John| date=July 30, 2019| url=https://www.nola.com/entertainment_life/festivals/article_80f5f1ee-b184-11e9-b5aa-c7c57769958a.html| publisher=The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate/nola.com| language=en| access-date=2021-11-13}} It was founded in 2001, in conjunction with Armstrong's centennial celebration.{{cite news |last=Guidry |first=Nate |date=August 8, 2005 |title=Another New Orleans festival trumpets Louis' legacy |url=https://www.post-gazette.com/life/travel/2005/08/08/Another-New-Orleans-festival-trumpets-Louis-legacy/stories/200508080116?cid=search |work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |page=C1 |access-date=January 27, 2022}}

The festival is traditionally held on the grounds of the old New Orleans Mint, now part of the Louisiana State Museum. It has multiple stages, including stages for traditional and contemporary jazz, big-band jazz, and a children's stage for up-and-coming jazz musicians.{{Cite web|title=Big Easy Plays Up Satchmo's Roots|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-jul-27-ca-27050-story.html| date=July 27, 2001| last=Martel |first=Brett| website=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US|access-date=2020-05-05}} In his book New Atlantis, John Swenson said that it "never fails to be one of the most joyous and characteristically New Orleans festivals of the year."{{cite book|last=Swenson |first=John |title=New Atlantis: Musicians Battle for the Survival of New Orleans|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HR71jLcP00AC&pg=PA105|date=9 May 2011|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-977958-1|pages=105–106}}

2020 saw the Summerfest go virtual due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it did happen in 2021.{{cite web| publisher=The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate/nola.com| title=2021 French Quarter Festival canceled over COVID, plans return next spring| last=Spera |first=Keith | date=August 13, 2021| url=https://www.nola.com/entertainment_life/music/article_42de5466-fc44-11eb-926a-f73d5de2557a.html| access-date=2021-11-13}}

As of 2021, Satchmo Summerfest, French Quarter Festival, and Holidays New Orleans Style are formally overseen by the nonprofit French Quarter Festivals, Inc., which as of 2017 is led by CEO Emily Madero.{{Cite news|url=http://neworleanscitybusiness.com/blog/2017/03/30/french-quarter-festivals-names-new-ceo/|title=French Quarter Festivals names new CEO| author= | date=2017-03-30| work=New Orleans CityBusiness| access-date=2021-11-13| language=en-US}}{{cite web| publisher=French Quarter Festivals, Inc.| title=Our Mission| url=https://fqfi.org/mission/| access-date=2021-11-13| language=en-US}}