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Armstrong Park pops with creativity during Congo Square Fest [1]

['John Gray', 'Verite News New Orleans', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow', 'Class', 'Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus', 'Display Inline', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar', 'Where Img', 'Height Auto Max-Width', 'Vertical-Align Bottom .Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow .Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar']

Date: 2025-03-31

Hundreds of people gathered at Louis Armstrong Park on Saturday and Sunday (March 29–30) for live performances, food and art during the annual Congo Square Rhythms Festival.

The event, hosted by the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation, featured music from groups such as Da Truth Brass Band and Bamboula 2000 and dance performances from Kumbuka Dance Ensemble and others over the course of the two-day celebration of New Orleans’ cultural roots. In the 19th century, Congo Square was a place for Africans to freely celebrate their culture despite their conditions of slavery.

At the festival, painters, clothes designers and other artists, inspired by various aspects of the Black diaspora, sold their creations to festivalgoers. Attendees of all ages and backgrounds danced with performers, sang along to brass bands and enjoyed the sunny weather in the park.

PHOTOS: New Orleanians enjoy music and dance at Congo Square Rhythms Festival

Big Chief Victor Harris of the Mandingo Warriors, also known as the Spirit of Fiyiyi, shows off his suit in Congo Square on Sunday, Mar. 30, 2025. Credit: John Gray / Verite News

A young Mardi Gras Indian prepares to join the Mardi Gras Indian battle in Congo Square on Sunday, Mar. 30, 2025. Credit: John Gray / Verite News

Hundreds filled Congo Square to witness the Mardi Gras Indian battle in Congo Square on Sunday, Mar. 30, 2025. Credit: John Gray / Verite News

Hundreds filled Congo Square to witness the Mardi Gras Indian battle in Congo Square on Sunday, Mar. 30, 2025. Credit: John Gray / Verite News

A young girl stands in front of Mardi Gras Indians in Congo Square on Sunday, Mar. 30, 2025. Credit: John Gray / Verite News

Community activists Verilin Dampeer and Malik Rahim enjoy a performance in Louis Armstrong Park on Sunday, Mar. 30, 2025. Credit: John Gray / Verite News

Travis Carter Jr., 8, performs onstage with Da Truth Brass Band in Louis Armstrong Park on Sunday, Mar. 30, 2025. Carter has been playing with the group for four years. Credit: John Gray / Verite News

John Barnes, Reggie Kennerson and Chris Feelings (left to right) dance while the Original Pinettes Brass Band performs in Louis Armstrong Park on Sunday, Mar. 30, 2025. Credit: John Gray / Verite News

The Original Pinettes Brass Band closed out the musical acts on Sunday, Mar. 30, 2025, with high energy and crowd favorite songs in Louis Armstrong Park. Credit: John Gray / Verite News

Chris Feelings, left, dances with Ikhlas Abdullah while the Original Pinettes Brass Band performs in Louis Armstrong Park on Sunday, Mar. 30, 2025. Abdullah travelled from New York to enjoy the festival. Credit: John Gray / Verite News

Vendor Luot “LuLu” Nguyen, left, speaks with Marion Hill in Louis Armstrong Park on Sunday, Mar. 30, 2025. Credit: John Gray / Verite News

Local artist Chester Allen sold his creations towards the entrance of Louis Armstrong Park on Sunday, Mar. 30, 2025. Credit: John Gray / Verite News

The drummer for Bamboula 2000 performs in Congo Square on Sunday, Mar. 30, 2025. Credit: John Gray / Verite News

Singers for Bamboula 2000 perform in Congo Square on Sunday, Mar. 30, 2025. Credit: John Gray / Verite News

Luqman Asadullah, right, sits with his grandchildren Torre Merrick, wearing green, and Ham’za LeBlanc in Congo Square on Sunday, Mar. 30, 2025. Credit: John Gray / Verite News

Food vendors selling a variety of foods line up in Louis Armstrong Park on Sunday, Mar. 30, 2025. Credit: John Gray / Verite News

A Mardi Gras Indian leads chants in Congo Square on Sunday, Mar. 30, 2025. Credit: John Gray / Verite News

The festival began 17 years ago as a part of the foundation’s mission to give back to the local community and economy through free concerts that hire local workers, vendors and artists, according to Kia Robinson Hatfield, spokesperson for the Jazz and Heritage Foundation.

“The food markets are really something to look forward to,” she said in an interview ahead of the festival last week. . “As well as the local artisans selling their wares, just like they did in Congo Square, many, many years ago.

Chester Allen, a New Orleans artist selling jewelry and small sculptures at the event, described the focus on local talent as a “beautiful thing”.

“When people come through this particular estuary, they can then discover from people who are grounded in this, what it is that we are, who we are,” Allen said in an interview with Verite News on Sunday. “We’re at Congo Square. It’s the birthplace of jazz.”

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[1] Url: https://veritenews.org/2025/03/31/congo-square-fest-2025-armstrong-park/

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