NEW ORLEANS – It was like the second half of a traditional New Orleans jazz funeral. After the community has mourned the loss of a loved one and buried the dead, they proudly parade in the streets while dancing to “When the Saints Go Marching In.” Last week, the Big Easy celebrated life after death as only New Orleanians can – by listening to over 386 bands, enjoying the hot sun and stuffing their faces full of fried Po-Boys and crawfish.

The 36th annual New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival (nicknamed Jazz Fest) kicked off its first weekend on Friday, April 28 to thousands of festival-goers, musicians, artists and food vendors at its usual spot in the New Orleans Fair Grounds, a horse-racetrack that was completely underwater after the levees broke following Hurricane Katrina.

Attendees enjoyed hundreds of well-known local bands as well as many larger acts like Bob Dylan, Ani DiFranco, Dave Matthews Band, Etta James, Bruce Springsteen and Herbie Hancock, as well as New Orleans’ own Galactic, Juvenile, The Meters and Dr. John, among others.

And that was just the first weekend.

Quint Davis, president of Festival Productions, Inc., who produces the annual Jazz Fest in New Orleans, said in a press conference that he was pleasantly surprised by the success of the post-Katrina festival.

“Nothing’s been normal,” he said. “You know, ‘normal’ is an incredible word for us to use down here, and one of the things about this festival is that hopefully people can experience something normal. Normalcy is a non-existent term (in post-Katrina New Orleans), so we had no idea what to expect, and it was a very good walk-up.”

Jazz Fest really is like no other music festival in the world. Just ask anyone who’s ever been, and they will tell you this is true. Jazz Fest is for anyone and everyone, transcending traditional music festivals in that it attracts young and old, blacks, whites, Hispanics, rich, middle-class and lower-class. It is not a hippie jam-band festival, although there are hippies and jam bands. It is not a hip-hop festival, although there are gangster rappers. It is not even considered to be a blues festival, although there is an entire stage devoted to it.

With more than 10 music stages placed within the grassy infield of the racetrack, music lovers can experience straight-ahead jazz, full-fledged rock and roll, hip-hop, gospel, blues, Cajun, reggae, Native American, African, Latin, New Orleans funk and everything in between – all in a single day. While locals will often complain about the increase in festival tickets each year, where else can you see Galactic, Dave Matthews Band, Bob Dylan, Ani DiFranco, Etta James, Juvenile, Bruce Springsteen, Jimmy Buffett, Robert Randolph, Paul Simon, Lionel Richie and countless incredible local bands of every variety for only $40?

Nevertheless, following Hurricane Katrina, the festival’s producers were uncertain as to whether there would even be a Jazz Fest in 2006. In fact, it wasn’t until mid January that the first bands were even booked, said Davis. Many of the bands, including some of the biggest names like Herbie Hancock and Ani DiFranco, approached the festival’s producers personally, offering to play for free or very little money, just so they could do something good for the people of New Orleans.

“People here are horribly sad and suffering, and a lot of them are living a terrible life,” Davis said. “So, bringing these bands in is not just some commercial venture (for them); it’s to give our local people a great show – the best show they can have.”

As for the local musicians playing at this year’s festival, many of them are just happy to be in New Orleans again, in many cases playing in their hometown for the first time since the storm. With so many displaced New Orleans musicians following Katrina, the festival’s producers had to set up special hotel and travel expense accounts just to get them back. Needless to say, it was well worth the cost.

New Orleans trumpet player Irvin Mayfield, who lost his father to the floodwaters of Katrina, told a packed audience inside the jazz tent that any claims of displaced New Orleans musicians being happier in their new cities after Katrina were “100 percent bullshit.” New Orleans, he said, is home, and New Orleans is where they shall return, one way or another.

For locals leaving the festival after a long day of music, food and sun – their faces bright red from not wearing enough sunscreen, and their bellies full of softshell crab po-boys, fried beignets and frozen drinks mixed with Southern Comfort – the Jazz Fest is just another step towards normalcy in a world turned upside down. Actually, it’s more like therapy, but without the medical bills.