American Folklife Center 50th Anniversary Celebration
Schedule
Tue, 14 Apr, 2026 at 10:00 am to Wed, 15 Apr, 2026 at 10:00 am
UTC-05:00Location
419 Decatur Street, New Orleans, LA, United States, Louisiana 70130 | New Orleans, LA
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This program takes place at our French Quarter Visitor Center - 419 Decatur St, New Orleans, LA 70130. Admission is free and open to the public, seating is limited and offered first come, first-served basis.10:00 am – 11:00 am – American Folklife Center Presentation
11:00 – 11:45 pm – Johnette Downing & Scott Billington
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm – “Making a Jazz Gumbo” Food Demonstration with Chef Dianne Honoré and Richard Scott
1:00 pm – 1:50 pm – Arrowhead Jazz Band – “Selections from the Collection”
2:00 pm – 2:50 pm – Bruce Daigrepont Cajun Band
3:00 pm – 4:00 pm – Louis Michot & SWAMP MAGIC
This program is free and open to the public.
PROGRAM DETAILS:
10:00 am – 11:00 am – American Folklife Center Presentation
Join John Fenn and Andrea Decker of the American Folklife Center for a lively introduction to the Center’s 50-year legacy of preserving and sharing cultural heritage through its archives, public programs, and national collaborations. Highlighting rich collections from Louisiana, including materials connected to Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve, New Orleans jazz traditions, and community-based documentation projects, they will showcase the depth and vibrancy of these holdings. They’ll also share how you can explore these resources online or in person in Washington, D.C. and connect with AFC staff to support your own work and interests.
11:00 – 11:45 pm – Johnette Downing & Scott Billington
Multi-award-winning New Orleans vocalist Johnette Downing and multi-GRAMMY winner Scott Billington present "Song Spinners," a set of songs first recorded by pioneering folklorists John Lomax, Alan Lomax and others, including many by women artists in the American Folklife Collection. Some of them, such as Vera Ward Hall’s “Trouble So Hard,” became hit records for other artists, while “Jesus on the Mainline” recorded by James Shorty and Viola James is now regarded as a gospel and New Orleans traditional jazz standard. Mrs. Sidney Carter’s “Worried Now (Won’t Be Worried Long)” is a blues with an unforgettable melody. With origins that pre-date the era of modern recording, these songs provided the foundation for what we now call Americana music. Performed by Johnette and Scott in their original versions, the clarity and stark beauty of these songs remind us of the durability of America’s folk traditions, in a show that is both moving and entertaining.
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm – “Making a Jazz Gumbo” Food Demonstration with Chef Dianne Honoré and Richard Scott
Growing up in her family's Creole restaurant located in the culturally rich Tremé neighborhood, laid the foundation for Dianne “Gumbo Marie” Honoré's work as an award-winning Historic Interpreter, Creole culture activist, registered teaching artist and event producer. Annually on Mardi Gras Day, she masks as Big Queen of the Yellow Pocahontas Hunters Tribe for which she meticulously creates one-of-a-kind "suits" from thousands of beads and feathers. Richard Scott is a mainstay on the New Orleans piano scene, specializing in traditional jazz and stride piano. Together the two will cook up a gumbo and share some history while performing some New Orleans jazz.
1:00 pm – 1:50 pm – Arrowhead Jazz Band – “Selections from the Collection”
The Arrowhead Jazz Band is comprised of New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park Rangers and local musicians. Join the AJB for a performance of songs from the American Folklife Collection.
2:00 pm – 2:50 pm – Bruce Daigrepont Cajun Band
Bruce Daigrepont, born in New Orleans in 1958, comes from a family of Cajuns who moved from Avoyelles Parish after World War II. Located in the uppermost corner of Louisiana's "Cajun triangle," Avoyelles Parish is the forgotten part of Cajun country. Nevertheless, the language and customs of the Cajun people are as deeply rooted here as anywhere in the state. And whenever you walk through the door of Bruce's family home, you return to Avoyelles Parish. His parents never abandoned their beautiful Cajun French, and they've kept their gumbo and fricassee simmering on the stove. The same, instinctive pride of culture and heritage that has guided his parents' lives, and his grandparents' lives, is now invested in Bruce's music. It was in 1978, after attending the annual Festival Acadiens in Lafayette, that Bruce was inspired to devote himself to the French accordion. By 1980 he had his own Cajun band and was honing his skills at regular Thursday-night fais do do dances at the Maple Leaf Bar. Over the next six years, Bruce Daigrepont helped popularize Cajun music and Cajun dancing in New Orleans.
3:00 pm – 4:00 pm – Louis Michot & SWAMP MAGIC
Louis Michot is best known as the fiddle player and lead-singer for the Grammy award winning Lost Bayou Ramblers, but his passion for Louisiana French and local folklore, and sustainability in the fastest disappearing landmass in the world are what fuels his career as a musician. With over 20 LPs under his belt, his music career continues to push the boundaries of the Louisiana French music traditions.
ABOUT THE AMERICAN FOLKLIFE CENTER:
The American Folklife Center (AFC), at the Library of Congress, documents and shares the many expressions of human experience to inspire, revitalize, and perpetuate living cultural traditions. Designated by the U.S. Congress as the national center for folklife documentation and research, the Center meets its mission by stewarding archival collections, creating public programs, and exchanging knowledge and expertise. The Center's vision is to encourage diversity of expression and foster community participation in the collective creation of cultural memory.
Since 1976—when Congress passed the American Folklife Preservation Act (Public Law 94-201) and President Ford signed it into law—the American Folklife Center has fulfilled its charge to “preserve and present” folklife in all its diversity. Over the years the Center's staff have coordinated and conducted large scale fieldwork projects, produced rich public programs onsite and online, supported training for researchers and fieldworkers, provided robust reference services, and built a significant multiformat archive that holds cultural documentation of lived human experience and meaning making from around the world.
ABOUT THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY CONCERT:
New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park and Jean Lafitte National Historical Park & Preserve will host a two-day concert to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the American Folklife Center, which was established in 1976. Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve (JELA) is one of the National Park Service units included in the Center's collection, as highlighted in the About this Collection | Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve Collection | Digital Collections | Library of Congress
Each day, representatives from the American Folklife Center will deliver presentations, offering insights into the Center's work and its collection. The artists chosen to participate in this event have been selected to reflect the spirit and diversity of the American Folklife Center's collection.
Both parks are collaborating with several notable partners for this anniversary event: John Fenn from the American Folklife Center, The Historic New Orleans Collection, Nick Spitzer of American Routes, and the National Council for Traditional Arts.
All programming presented during the two-day celebration will be recorded. These recordings will be featured on a future episode of American Routes, allowing a wider audience to experience the anniversary festivities.
SEE OUR FULL CALENDAR OF EVENTS AT: https://www.nps.gov/jazz/planyourvisit/calendar.htm
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Where is it happening?
419 Decatur Street, New Orleans, LA, United States, Louisiana 70130Event Location & Nearby Stays:
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