Could Bayou Boogaloo move next year? Organizer says maybe

Zeller said that he believes the Bayou Boogaloo brand is strong enough to survive a relocation. He and his staff are considering moving to Deutsches Haus, the German cultural center on Bayou St. John near Esplanade Avenue, he said. They are also looking at three spots along the lakefront, as well as other festival sites in the city, such as Armstrong Park, Lafayette Square and Woldenberg Park.

In addition, Zeller said, he’d consider taking the annual event outside of New Orleans to Jefferson Parish, which he believes might be more hospitable to the fest than New Orleans has recently been.

The festival, which took place (May 17-19), charged admission for the first time in 2019. Zeller said the $10-per-day or $20-per-weekend charge was necessary mostly because the city steeply increased its fee to use the public space along Bayou St. John. Zeller said that the city charged approximately $35,000 this year, plus a $5,000 damage deposit.

In 2018, the city charged a $5,000 fee with a $1,000 damage deposit. Last year, the festival also agreed to spend $5,000 in improvements to the public space along the bayou. Bayou Boogaloo is presented by Friends of Bayou St. John, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the upgrades of the urban waterway.

A new administration, a new deal

According to the city’s Deputy Chief of Staff Liana Elliot, the Cantrell administration negotiated the festival fee differently than past administrations. Elliot explained that the land around the bayou where the festival takes place is owned by the state but administered by the city. The city, she said, is required by state law to rent the property at a fair market rate. A similar event in nearby City Park would cost the presenter $43,000, but the city reduced the fee because the bayou property lacks the park’s amenities.

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