Today is Halloween, but the costumes and celebrating don’t end tonight. This weekend, you and over 100,000 people will keep the party going at Voodoo Music + Arts Experience. Voodoo is one of our biggest New Orleans festivals of the year and people come from all over to get in on it, but we get pumped for it, too. Not only because we love to fest in general, but also because music is in our bones — in our heartbeats. We love it and can’t get enough of it.

(photo from spotzilla on Flickr)

There are some amazing, world-famous bands playing at Voodoo Fest this year like Pearl Jam, The Cure, Nine Inch Nails, and Paramore, to name a few, because big festivals like this bring in big names. But the beauty of a festival of this size in New Orleans is that it provides yet another stage and a massive audience for our ridiculously talented local artists, as well. New Orleans bands like Preservation Hall Jazz Band will own the stage in front of loyal local fans and tourists alike. Also slated to play at Voodoo this weekend are local bands The Breton Sound, G-Eazy, Big History, Quintron and Miss Pussycat, The Revivalists, Dirty Bourbon River Show, and none other than The Real Night Tripper: Dr. John, featuring a stage full of powerhouse New Orleans musicians like Alfred “Uganda” Roberts, Herlin Riley, Ivan Neville, Erica Falls, and Sarah Morrow, among several others.

(photo from **Parapluie** on Flickr)

Some of the best musical talents and innovators in the world come out of New Orleans, and it feels good to show people what we’ve got going on down here. There are so many ways that we celebrate and support our local artists, and Voodoo Fest is one of them. Embrace our thriving music industry, and enjoy Halloween a little longer this weekend at Voodoo Fest.