The increasing Covid-19 cases in Louisiana is why organizers of the New Orleans Jazz Fest have decided to cancel the 2021 event, for the second year in a row.
Louisiana is reporting some of the worst cases of COVID-19 since the onset of the pandemic. The latest numbers as of Aug. 9 are why New Orleans Jazz Festival organizers have canceled the event for 2021 after delaying it to the fall from the spring.
“As a result of the current exponential growth of new COVID cases in New Orleans and the region and the ongoing public health emergency, we must sadly announce that the 2021 edition of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival […] will not occur as planned,” organizers announced on the website. “We now look forward to next spring, when we will present the Festival during its traditional timeframe.”
The festival normally takes place over two weekends in April and May, but the event was moved to October earlier this year. Next year’s dates are scheduled for April 29 through May 8, 2022.
“In the meantime, we urge everyone to follow the guidelines and protocols put forth by public health officials, so that we can all soon experience together the joy that is Jazz Fest,” organizers added.
— New Orleans JazzFest (@jazzfest) August 8, 2021https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
This is one of the first major festivals scheduled for this fall to be canceled as Louisiana is seeing a large increase in coronavirus infections.
The state reported 12,227 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus on Aug. 9 from the weekend, the highest total ever recorded for a Monday report, according to Nola.com. These latest numbers bring the total number of cases over seven days to an all-time high of 28,239.
Data from Johns Hopkins University shows that just 37.4% of Louisiana’s population is fully vaccinated against Covid-19, prompting Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards to reinstate a statewide mask mandate until at least September 1.