NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Grammy-nominated Tank and the Bangas is among the headliners for the 2020 French Quarter Festival scheduled to be held April 16-19 in New Orleans, organizers announced Tuesday.
Tarriona "Tank" Bell, whose band was recently nominated for a best new artist Grammy award, is the featured performer on the 37th annual fetival's promotional posters and advertisements, event producers French Quarter Festivals, Inc. revealed at a news conference. Tank and the Bangas debuted at the festival in 2014 and are to return this year.
Other returning favorites include Irma Thomas, Ellis Marsalis, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Amanda Shaw, the Soul Rebels, the Hot 8 Brass Band, Sweet Crude, Big Sam's Funky Nation, John Boutte and Walter "Wolfman" Washington & the Roadmasters.
A full schedule with performance times and stage assignments will be released in March. Go to www.frenchquarterfest.org for more details.
The free festival will increase its total number of stages by one, stretching from the Old U.S. Mint to Woldenberg Riverfront Park, news outlets reported. Performances will be held from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. each day.
The 31 acts appearing at the event for the first time in 2020 include jazz-pop singer Rickie Lee Jones, who has lived in New Orleans for several years; Loose Cattle, the Americana band led by Michael Cerveris, the Tony Award-winning Broadway, television and movie actor who lives in New Orleans part-time; and the south Louisiana alternative pop band Givers.
The new Louisiana History and Culture Stage at Le Petit Theatre will present local historians on the Saturday and Sunday of the festival, the two days when all 25 stages will be up and running.
"As a nonprofit committed to celebrating New Orleans' musical heritage we're proud to welcome our community and guests to the French Quarter," French Quarter Festivals, Inc. president and CEO Emily Madero said in a press release. "Part of what makes French Quarter Fest so special is that there are no fences or fees -- we produce this festival in a public neighborhood open for all to enjoy. There's really no other festival like it, especially in a city full of celebrations."
Molly McGuire, known professionally as Magwire, is the artist for the 2020 festival's poster. She is also the artist for another FQFI event, this summer's Satchmo SummerFest.
