PICS: Residents make the most of Jazz Festing from home

Courtney McColloch is determined the show must go on as he listens to the WWOZ broadcast outside the shuttered gates of the Fair Grounds after the 2020 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival was cancelled by the Covid-19 pandemic. Photographed on Friday, April 24, 2020. (Photo by Michael DeMocker)

PICS: Residents make the most of Jazz Festing from home

Despite the novel coronavirus outbreak, the Jazz Fest must go on! Residents made the most of the first weekend of Jazz Fest as WWOZ-FM presented "Fest in Place," a virtual fest of sorts as the station played archival performances from previous Jazz Fests during the same hours the stages would have been open at the Fairgrounds.

by Michael DeMocker | April 27, 2020

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Despite the novel coronavirus outbreak, the Jazz Fest must go on! Residents made the most of the first weekend of Jazz Fest as WWOZ-FM presented “Fest in Place,” a virtual fest of sorts as the station played archival performances from previous Jazz Fests during the same hours the stages would have been open at the Fairgrounds.

Donna Triay (L) and Diane Beergard (R) keep alive their traditional Jazz Fest visit to Liuzza’s By The Track as the festival itself is shut down by the Covid-19 pandemic on Thursday, April 23, 2020. (Photo by Michael DeMocker)

Bouquets of flowers and a pair of sunglasses are hung on the front gates of the Fair Grounds after the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival was cancelled by the Covid-19 pandemic. Photographed on Friday, April 24, 2020. (Photo by Michael DeMocker)

“Tired” nurse Andrea Olexa unfurls her Jazz Fest flag as she and her boyfriend Matthew Bosse celebrate as best they can on their porch by listening to the WWOZ broadcast. This would have been the couple’s third Jazz Fest at their home near the Fair Grounds had the annual festival not been cancelled by the Covid-19 pandemic. Photographed on Friday, April 24, 2020. (Photo by Michael DeMocker)

“Tired” nurse Andrea Olexa and her boyfriend Matthew Bosse celebrate Jazz Fest as best they can on their porch by listening to the WWOZ broadcast. This would have been the couple’s third Jazz Fest at their home near the Fair Grounds had the annual festival not been cancelled by the Covid-19 pandemic. Photographed on Friday, April 24, 2020. (Photo by Michael DeMocker)

A sign says on the musician’s gate to the Fair Grounds reads “We Miss You All” after the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival was cancelled by the Covid-19 pandemic. Photographed on Friday, April 24, 2020. (Photo by Michael DeMocker)

A group of family and friends, many of whom have worked for years at Jazz Fest, gather for a socially distanced celebration featuring food from Liuzza’s and the WWOZ broadcast on a small radio outside the musician’s gate to the Fair Grounds after the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival was cancelled by the Covid-19 pandemic. Photographed on Friday, April 24, 2020. (Photo by Michael DeMocker)

Chelsea Hathaway, described as a Jazz Fest Baby by her mother, was given an official Jazz Fest sign to celebrate her recent graduation from LSU Nursing School. She was part of a group of family and friends, many of whom have worked for years at Jazz Fest, who gathered for a socially distanced celebration featuring food from Liuzza’s and the WWOZ broadcast on a small radio outside the musician’s gate to the Fair Grounds after the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival was cancelled by the Covid-19 pandemic. Photographed on Friday, April 24, 2020. (Photo by Michael DeMocker)

Chelsea Hathaway, described as a Jazz Fest Baby by her mother, celebrates her recent graduation from LSU Nursing School with a group of family and friends, many of whom have worked for years at Jazz Fest, who gathered for a socially distanced celebration featuring food from Liuzza’s and the WWOZ broadcast on a small radio outside the musician’s gate to the Fair Grounds after the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival was cancelled by the Covid-19 pandemic. Photographed on Friday, April 24, 2020. (Photo by Michael DeMocker)

What would normally be a raucous Jazz Fest scene at the Acura Stage, with a sea of chairs, flags, and humanity, is instead an empty, quiet New Orleans Fair Grounds infield and track on Friday, April 24, 2020. (Photo by Michael DeMocker)

Wearing his traditional fest-going gear, New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival regular Ross Razin sits outside the front gates of the Fair Grounds on what would have been opening day of Jazz Fest as he tries to recapture a bit of the magic lost to the Covid-19 pandemic. Photographed on Thursday, April 23, 2020. (Photo by Michael DeMocker)

Liuzza’s By The Track employees Natalie Andrews and Tommy Foto pose outside the restaurant as shut-out Jazz Fest fans swing by for their traditional visits. Photographed on Thursday, April 23, 2020. (Photo by Michael DeMocker)

Edwin and Elizabeth Bragg (L) enjoy Crawfish Strudel, Crawfish Monica and Rosemint Tea served by Jessica Shank and her husband Ned Randolph the porch of their home on Esplanade Avenue after the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival was cancelled by the Covid-19 pandemic. Photographed on Saturday, April 25, 2020. (Photo by Michael DeMocker)

Edwin and Elizabeth Bragg enjoy Crawfish Strudel, Crawfish Monica and Rosemint Tea served by Jessica Shank and her husband Ned Randolph the porch of their home on Esplanade Avenue after the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival was cancelled by the Covid-19 pandemic. Photographed on Saturday, April 25, 2020. (Photo by Michael DeMocker)

Saying “The Show Must Go On,” Awesome Rob enjoys a Roast Beef Po’Boy on the sidewalk outside Liuzza’s By The Track after the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival was cancelled by the Covid-19 pandemic. Photographed on Saturday, April 25, 2020. (Photo by Michael DeMocker)

Shawn O’Bryan (L) gets a socially-distanced hand-off from Chloe Berthelsen of a tub of Lavender-Blackberry Ice Cream from Loozi-Ice-Cream on Bell Street near the Fair Grounds. The block is holding a potluck every night of Jazz Fest where one neighbor feeds the others a Jazz Fest-themed meal, like Soft Shell Crab Po-Boys, Crawfish Monica, or boiled crawfish, after the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival was cancelled by the Covid-19 pandemic. Photographed on Saturday, April 25, 2020. (Photo by Michael DeMocker)

While neighbor Shawn O’Bryan looks on, Chloe Berthelsen hands a tub of Lavender-Blackberry Ice Cream from Loozi-Ice-Cream to Kim and Doug Burr as they fest in place on the porch of their home on Bell Street. The block is holding a potluck every night of Jazz Fest where one neighbor feeds the others a Jazz Fest-themed meal, like Soft Shell Crab Po-Boys, Crawfish Monica, or boiled crawfish, after the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival was cancelled by the Covid-19 pandemic. Photographed on Saturday, April 25, 2020. (Photo by Michael DeMocker)

Buddy elf-isolates in the window of a Bayou St. John home after the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival was cancelled by the Covid-19 pandemic. Photographed on Saturday, April 25, 2020. (Photo by Michael DeMocker)

Sherry Campo dances to the music of WWOZ in front of the house of her neighbors the Giroirs on Desoto Street after the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival was cancelled by the Covid-19 pandemic. Photographed on Saturday, April 25, 2020. (Photo by Michael DeMocker)

Joy Baker (L) and Sherry Campo (R) dance to the music of WWOZ in front of the house of their neighbors the Giroirs on Desoto Street after the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival was cancelled by the Covid-19 pandemic. Photographed on Saturday, April 25, 2020. (Photo by Michael DeMocker)

Kim and Doug Burr fest in place on the porch of their home on Bell Street after the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival was cancelled by the Covid-19 pandemic. Photographed on Saturday, April 25, 2020. (Photo by Michael DeMocker)

Neighbors take to their balconies and porches on Esplanade Avenue after the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival was cancelled by the Covid-19 pandemic. Photographed on Saturday, April 25, 2020. (Photo by Michael DeMocker)

Maria De los Reyes (L) and Nicole Nicosia (R) play their light-up tambourines along to music from WWOZ on the porch of their home on Bell Street after the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival was cancelled by the Covid-19 pandemic. Photographed on Saturday, April 25, 2020. (Photo by Michael DeMocker)

Nurse Maria De los Reyes flies PPE equipment on the Jazz Fest flag set up in the yard of her home on Bell Street after the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival was cancelled by the Covid-19 pandemic. Photographed on Saturday, April 25, 2020. (Photo by Michael DeMocker)

Maria De los Reyes plays her light-up tambourine along to music from WWOZ on the porch of their home on Bell Street after the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival was cancelled by the Covid-19 pandemic. Photographed on Saturday, April 25, 2020. (Photo by Michael DeMocker)

The Razin family holds a socially distanced mini Jazz Fest, complete with Crawfish Monica, music and beer, in their Nashville Street backyard after the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival was cancelled by the Covid-19 pandemic. Photographed on Saturday, April 25, 2020. (Photo by Michael DeMocker)

The Mobile Musicbox rolls down Esplanade Avenue after the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival was cancelled by the Covid-19 pandemic. Photographed on Saturday, April 25, 2020. (Photo by Michael DeMocker)

A sign wishes passers-by a Happy Jazz Fest in the neighborhood outside the Fair Grounds after the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival was cancelled by the Covid-19 pandemic. Photographed on Saturday, April 25, 2020. (Photo by Michael DeMocker)

Parking preservation habits die hard on Bell Street after the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival was cancelled by the Covid-19 pandemic. Photographed on Saturday, April 25, 2020. (Photo by Michael DeMocker)

Michael DeMocker

Michael DeMocker has been a photojournalist in New Orleans for over twenty years. He’s been the National Press Photographer Association’s Regional Photographer of the Year three times and loves photographing all things New Orleans. He lives Uptown with his wife, son, and two dogs of varying intelligence.