SATCHMO SUMMERFEST NAMED IN TOP 20 EVENTS THIS SUMMER

(New Orleans, LA) The festival honoring one of New Orleans favorite sons is receiving an honor of its own this summer. Satchmo SummerFest has been named one of the top 20 events by the Southeast Tourism Society. The annual event, held this year August 4 through August 8, 2004, highlights the music and life of Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong with Satchmo-themed programs, music and activities.

Since 1985, the Southeast Tourism Society has published its Top 20 Events list. Events must go through anextensive nomination process and are reviewed in detail by the Southeast Tourism Society before the topevents are selected.

“This is just the fourth year for the festival and it’s an incredible honor to be selected as one of the top 20 events in the southeast two years in a row,” said Laurie Toups, Satchmo SummerFest producer and executive director of FQFI. “Celebrating the life and work of one of New Orleans own is especially rewarding for us. Seeing visitors enjoying the legacy of Louis Armstrong, and recognizing the lasting gift he’s given our city – and the world – is remarkable.”

Satchmo SummerFest is free and open to the public. Events are held at a variety of locations in the historic New Orleans French Quarter, but most are centered at the Louisiana State Museum’s Old U.S. Mint at 400 Esplanade Avenue, which features a New Orleans Jazz exhibit. The exhibit contains the cornet on which Armstrong learned to play as youngster and other important artifacts about his life. Four stages will fill the weekend with music including traditional and contemporary jazz, funky New Orleans brass band music and special interactive performances for children. Discussions about his life will feature many fascinating people including George Avakian, Armstrong’s producer at Columbia Records in the 1950s and 1960s, and Michael Cogswell, director of the Louis Armstrong House and Archives, Queens College, New York.

Satchmo SummerFest is sponsored by the Louisiana Office of Tourism, the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, the New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation, Southern Comfort, Offbeat Magazine, Jazz Parlor/Zydeque, NOLA.com, Where Y’at Magazine, WLAE-TV, Rhodes Funeral Home, and the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation, just to name a few. The New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park and the New Orleans Jazz Centennial sponsor children’s activities.

The event is produced by FQFI, the non-profit organization that also produces the French Quarter Festival in April and Christmas New Orleans Style in December. For more festival details or to book specially priced hotel accommodations, call (800)673-5725 or (504) 522-5730, or visit www.fqfi.org.