Without Jazz Fest, Turf Ready for Fair Grounds Meet

The recent COVID-19-related cancellation of this fall's New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival should leave full turf racing opportunities this fall and winter at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots, according to Bernard Chatters, president of the Louisiana Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association.

Fair Grounds annually hosts the music festival, an event known as Jazz Fest, typically in the spring, drawing thousands onto its infield area and leaving its grass course in need of recovery. The event, a staple in New Orleans tourism, was canceled in 2020 due to COVID-19, and this year it was postponed until the fall before festival officials scrapped it Aug. 8, citing "exponential growth" of COVID-19 cases in the area. It is scheduled to resume next year from April 29-May 8.

When Jazz Fest takes place in the spring, the turf course at Fair Grounds has more than six months to recuperate before the track stages its Thoroughbred meet beginning in late fall.

This year, Jazz Fest had been scheduled from Oct. 8-17, shortly before the track opens in late November. Prior to the Jazz Fest cancellation, turf racing was projected to be delayed until around mid-January, Chatters indicated.

"For the people of Louisiana, we understand the impact of Jazz Fest on the city of New Orleans and the state. Sometimes you have to take the good with the bad, the bad with the good," Chatters said.