Ryan Batiste has a few dreams for LOCALS\u2019 Fest whenever he takes a look around Louis Armstrong Park.<\/p>\n
\u201cI go to the park pretty frequently, and I see four stages, which would be the most stages they\u2019ve put into the park,\u201d says Batiste, who organizes LOCALS\u2019 Fest<\/a> and performs as Shaggadelic. \u201cThe park is beautiful. There\u2019s a lot of space you can do stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n Four stages of music is an ambitious goal, and Batiste is making progress. When LOCALS’ Fest<\/a> returns to Armstrong Park for its sixth edition on Saturday, Sept. 13, there will be two stages of music for the first time as well as expanded VIP offerings.<\/p>\n This year\u2019s LOCALS’ Fest will feature performances by the brass bands Kings of Brass, Sporty\u2019s Brass Band and Bettis & 3rd Degree; rapper Kr3wcial and his live band More Love, fresh off the release of the album \u201cGod Is With Us\u201d; the Ambush Reggae Band; singer-songwriter Janai McGee; and Mike \u201cDizzle\u201d Jones of the Next Level Band. Batiste also will perform with his band Raw Revolution, and there will be sets by DJs 504 Millz and Spin Griffey.<\/p>\n The mission of LOCALS’ Fest \u2014 which is short for \u201cLoving Our Community As Louisiana” \u2014 is to highlight homegrown New Orleans talent and businesses. Along with music, there will be food and drink vendors, artists and crafts people and other small businesses with tables.<\/p>\n General admission is free, and there will be free parking at the Mahalia Jackson Theater parking lot, Batiste says. There also are ticketed VIP passes with an air-conditioned bathroom, private bar with two drink tickets and an elevated viewing area.<\/p>\n Batiste grew up<\/a> in the large Batiste family of musicians and first learned to play music by watching his father, funk mainstay David Batiste Sr., and his older brothers, Jamal, Damon and the late Russell Batiste.<\/p>\n Ryan Batiste organized the first LOCALS\u2019 Fest in 2019 with the goal to give emerging and veteran local musicians and bands another festival-style platform, especially during New Orleans\u2019 busy fall season. Hot 8 Brass Band, Casme and Assata Renay were among the performers that year.<\/p>\n When the pandemic hit in 2020, LOCALS\u2019 Fest went online with two nights of virtual performances by Dawn Richard, Alfred Banks and others streaming on Facebook and Instagram. Hurricane Ida and another Covid surge postponed the 2021 festival, but LOCALS\u2019 Fest made its in-person return in 2022 and has been a consistent presence on the fall calendar since.<\/p>\n Batiste is glad to be able to add a second stage to the grassroots festival, but, he says, he pictures a day when the event has a singer-songwriter stage or a block party area.<\/p>\n \u201cThe mission is still the same. The values are still the same, and we\u2019re just opening up the platform for more people to do things,\u201d Batiste says. \u201cJust us being able to open it up to more people is one of the biggest blessings we\u2019ve had.\u201d<\/p>\n Find more at localsfestnola.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n