Diehard music lovers braved the weather to kick off the 30th annual French Quarter Festival, but it’s all sunny skies on the second day. There are dozens of acts from near and afar, and NoDef has picked some must-sees to help fest goers narrow down their schedules.    

by Shay Sokol

The Florestine Collection, a 44-minute short by Helen Hill and completed by her husband Paul Gailiunas, is a sweet, poetic, and original film of a family’s experience before and after Katrina. Through a mixed media of animated cut-outs, close-ups of dress patterns, and flood-stained film, New Orleans is showcased as the inspirational and life-changing homeplace for a young family, where a son is born, a pig is raised, and a wife is murdered.

Hola Nola, and hola the first non-celebrity music mixtape in weeks. The original Hola Nola hop skip and jump is back to address the announcing of the cubes - the Jazzfest cubes, that is. The schedule is out for this year's fete at the Fair Grounds, and decisions must be made. The following playlist goes through my top two choices per day, and the sacrifices that will need to be made when circling (in pencil) the who/what/where from April 29th-May 8th.