NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival kicks off on Thursday, bringing together a smorgasbord of the city's most iconic homegrown artists for the next two weeks.
The festival, which draws hundreds of thousands of attendees, began in 1970 as a homage to the sounds of the birthplace of jazz and other genres with deep regional roots: blues, gospel, folk, Cajun zydeco and more. It now covers a wide range of music — headliners include Pearl Jam and Lenny Kravitz alongside hometown favorites like Lil Wayne — but remains focused on celebrating local artists and culture.
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FILE - Bonerama performs at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in New Orleans, Friday, May 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)
Robert Harrison III, Loretta's Pralines president and CEO, holds a portrait of his mother on Tuesday, April 22, 2025, as he prepares thousands of pralines for the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. (AP Photo/Jack Brook)
FILE - Sous chef Darren Chabert serves up chicken and andouille gumbo at Emeril's Delmonico in New Orleans, Monday, Feb. 17, 2014. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)
FILE - Baked oysters are displayed at the Bourbon House Restaurant in New Orleans, Tuesday, June 24, 2014. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)
FILE - A classic serving of shrimp creole is served at Cafe Dauphine in New Orleans, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2015. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)
Jerry Clifton, 56, a Loretta's Pralines baker, prepares confections on Tuesday, April 22, 2025, for the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. (AP Photo/Jack Brook)
FILE - Audience members dance during the "Bounce Shakedown" at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in New Orleans, Sunday, May 6, 2012. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)
“We started out to reflect New Orleans to the world but now it's just as much a part of New Orleans as Mardi Gras,” said Quint Davis, the festival's longtime producer.
Davis also urges attendees to come hungry — the local flavors served up by festival celebrate the city's renowned cuisine just as much as its music.
For some attendees, Davis says, the festival's world-class musicians provide a soundtrack for their first priority: getting their hands on the delicious Cajun and Creole meals — from pheasant, quail and andouille gumbo to pecan catfish meunière and alligator sausage — served by local vendors.
Most of the nearly 70 different vendors have been part of the festival for several decades and “perfected their craft," said Michelle Nugent, the festival's food director.
“The menu we feature you can't find anywhere else,” Nugent said. “Everything is handmade and home-cooked.”
Robert Harrison III carries on the legacy of his late mother's bakery, Loretta's Pralines, which sells chocolate, rum and coconut pralines, along with a fan favorite that mixes pralines with a deep-fried dough pastry known as a beignet.
“The praline beignet — my mom was a genius for this: she took two New Orleans products that were just so French and she mashed them together,” Harrison III said. He and his staff have spent weeks preparing thousands of pralines for the festival: “It's something that you have to love to do — my Mom loved to do it and we do too.”
Another Jazz Fest offering to drool for is the Cochon de Lait Po Boy — suckling pig slow roasted on French bread — prepared by Walker's Southern Style BBQ.
“We dry rub all those pork butts every night and they smoke all night long,” said Shayne Brunet, whose family has operated a stall at the festival for more than two decades. They add fresh coleslaw for crunch and the family's secret “wertie” sauce — what Brunet describes as “Creole creamy” — for a sweet kick.
“One thing you won't find there is burgers, hot dogs, pizza, French fries, any of the normal food that you can get any other festival type of place," said John Caluda, who runs a baking shop and pioneered the crawfish strudel, a festival mainstay that wins over skeptics with its contrasting, flavorful textures.
The strudel joins the pantheon of festival originals beside local chef Pierre Hilzim's "Crawfish Monica" a creamy pasta dish featuring crawfish tail meat and named after his wife. It's become one of the festival's most popular dishes and Hilzim says he requires nearly two million crawfish to satiate the appetites of festival customers.
“To be able to put a dish in the lexicon of food in this city — I’m very humbled by that,” Hilzim said. As for attendees of the festival: “I don’t think anywhere in the world is eating better food.”
Headliners at the festival include Pearl Jam, Lenny Kravitz, Dave Matthews Band, Luke Combs, Kacey Musgraves, Santana, Burna Boy and Lil Wayne and The Roots.
The majority of the dozens of artists playing over the course of eight days across 14 stages are native New Orleanians — Lil Wayne among them — such as Trombone Shorty, Big Freedia, Irma Thomas, Harry Connick, Jr. and Mardi Gras Indian leader Big Chief Monk Boudreaux.
This year's festival poster features local band Tank and the Bangas, whose album “The Heart, the Mind, the Soul” won a Grammy earlier this year for Best Spoken Word Poetry Album.
Lead singer Tarriona “Tank” Ball, who grew up on a street called Music, first performed at the festival as a member of her high school choir. Even after touring around the world, she says there's nothing like performing for her city.
“When it comes time to be at home for Jazz Fest, everybody just wants to give a little extra magic to the show,” Ball said. “You want to make it extra special because your auntie is out in the crowd, your little cousins — cause it's home.”
She's also looking forward to the festival food — her family runs a fried chicken and jambalaya stand, and Ball says they'll have a plate saved for after her show.
Brook is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Brook on the social platform X: @jack_brook96.
FILE - Bonerama performs at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in New Orleans, Friday, May 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)
Robert Harrison III, Loretta's Pralines president and CEO, holds a portrait of his mother on Tuesday, April 22, 2025, as he prepares thousands of pralines for the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. (AP Photo/Jack Brook)
FILE - Sous chef Darren Chabert serves up chicken and andouille gumbo at Emeril's Delmonico in New Orleans, Monday, Feb. 17, 2014. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)
FILE - Baked oysters are displayed at the Bourbon House Restaurant in New Orleans, Tuesday, June 24, 2014. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)
FILE - A classic serving of shrimp creole is served at Cafe Dauphine in New Orleans, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2015. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)
Jerry Clifton, 56, a Loretta's Pralines baker, prepares confections on Tuesday, April 22, 2025, for the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. (AP Photo/Jack Brook)
FILE - Audience members dance during the "Bounce Shakedown" at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in New Orleans, Sunday, May 6, 2012. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel launched dozens of airstrikes across Gaza on Friday that local health officials said killed 108 people, mostly women and children, and which Israeli officials described as a prelude to a stepped-up campaign to pressure Hamas to release hostages.
Israel also struck two ports in Yemen that it said were used by the Houthi militant group to transfer weapons. Local health officials said at least one person was killed and nine injured.
The strikes across the Gaza Strip followed days of attacks that killed more than 130 people, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants, and came as U.S. President Donald Trump wrapped up a visit to the region that included stops in three Gulf states but not Israel.
There had been widespread hope that Trump's trip could increase the chances of a ceasefire deal or the resumption of humanitarian aid to Gaza, which Israel has prevented for more than two months. The Trump administration is also trying to negotiate a nuclear deal with Iran, which backs several anti-Israel militant groups, including Hamas in Gaza and the Houthis in Yemen.
Speaking to reporters in Abu Dhabi on the final day of his trip, Trump said he was looking to resolve a range of global crises, including Gaza. “We’re looking at Gaza,” he said. “And we’ve got to get that taken care of. A lot of people are starving. A lot of people are — there’s a lot of bad things going on.”
The Gaza Health Ministry said 31 children and 27 women were killed and hundreds more wounded in Friday’s airstrikes.
In southern Gaza, Israel struck the outskirts of Deir al-Balah and the city of Khan Younis. It said it hit anti-tank missile posts and military structures.
Three children and their grandfather were killed as they fled bombardment in Khan Younis, said the head of pediatrics at Nasser Hospital, Dr. Ahmed al-Farra.
In northern Gaza, the attacks sent people fleeing from the Jabaliya refugee camp and the town of Beit Lahiya. Israel said it eliminated several militants who were operating in an observation compound.
Dark smoke was seen rising over Jabaliya as people fled on donkey carts, by car and foot.
“We got out of the house with difficulty, killing and death, we did not take anything,” said Feisal Al-Attar, who was displaced from Beit Lahiya.
After the strikes on Yemen, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “There will be more to come.” The Israeli military, which attacked Houthi targets earlier this month, said it had intercepted several missiles fired from Yemen toward Israeli airspace during Trump’s visit to the region.
An Israeli official said the latest strikes in Gaza were part of the lead-up to a larger operation that it warned would begin soon if Hamas doesn't release the 58 hostages still in Gaza since the group's October 2023 attack that launched the war. The official was not authorized to brief media and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Netanyahu vowed earlier in the week to escalate pressure on Hamas with the aim of destroying the militant group that has ruled Gaza for nearly two decades. In comments released by his office Tuesday, the prime minister said Israeli forces were days away from entering Gaza “with great strength to complete the mission.”
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz confirmed Friday that strikes in Gaza earlier in the week targeted the presumed leader of Hamas' military wing in Gaza, Mohammed Sinwar, although there has been no word on his fate. He is the brother of the slain former leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar — a mastermind of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack.
In Israel, a group that supports the families of hostages said they awoke Friday with “heavy hearts” to reports of increased attacks and called on Netanyahu to “join hands” with Trump’s efforts to free hostages. On Monday, Israeli-American Edan Alexander was released after backdoor U.S.-Hamas diplomacy.
In the Oct. 7 attack, Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people and abducted 251 others. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 53,000 Palestinians, many of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
Almost 3,000 have been killed since Israel broke a ceasefire on March 18, the ministry said.
Of the hostages that remain in Gaza, Israel believes as many as 23 are still alive, although Israeli authorities have expressed concern for the status of three of those.
Dozens of Palestinians in Khan Younis lined up at a charity kitchen Friday in a scene that quickly turned chaotic as the enclave entered its third month of Israel’s aid blockade.
Several children behind a metal partition screamed and cried out for food. At one point, charity kitchen workers struggled to push people back into line.
Some workers were attacked as the crowd surged forward, pressing against the partition and lunging toward the large pots of rice to grab whatever they could.
Israel's blockade is preventing food, fuel medicine and all other supplies from entering, worsening a humanitarian crisis. Israel says the blockade aims to pressure Hamas to release the hostages it still holds.
“Our only hope was that Donald Trump’s visit to the Middle East would result in solutions and somehow open crossings to bring in humanitarian assistance as soon as possible into the Gaza Strip,” said Saqer Jamal, a displaced man from Rafah who was at the kitchen.
The United Nations announced Friday that 18 kitchens previously closed due to food shortages in Gaza reopened after community members shared remaining food stocks.
Earlier this week, a new humanitarian organization that has U.S. backing to take over aid delivery said it expects to begin operations before the end of the month — after what it describes as key agreements from Israeli officials.
A statement from the group, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, identified several U.S. military veterans, former humanitarian coordinators and security contractors that it said would lead the delivery effort.
Many in the humanitarian community, including the U.N., said they won't participate because the system does not align with humanitarian principles and won't be able to meet the needs of Palestinians in Gaza.
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Mroue reported from Beirut. Associated Press writers Tia Goldenberg and Sam Mednick in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed to this report.
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Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
Displaced Palestinians fleeing Beit Lahia amid ongoing Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip arrive in Jabalia, northern Gaza, on Friday, May 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Smoke rises following an Israeli army airstrike in northern Gaza Strip, seen from southern Israel, Friday, May 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
An Israeli tank moves in a staging area in southern Israel, near the border with Gaza, Friday, May 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
Displaced Palestinians fleeing Beit Lahia amid ongoing Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip arrive in Jabalia, northern Gaza, on Friday, May 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Palestinians struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Friday, May 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinians struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Friday, May 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinians look at smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike near Jabalia, northern Gaza Strip, Friday, May 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Displaced Palestinians fleeing Beit Lahia amid ongoing Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip arrive in Jabalia, northern Gaza, on Friday, May 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Displaced Palestinians fleeing Beit Lahia amid ongoing Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip arrive in Jabalia, northern Gaza, on Friday, May 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Displaced Palestinians fleeing Beit Lahia amid ongoing Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip arrive in Jabalia, northern Gaza, on Friday, May 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Displaced Palestinians fleeing Beit Lahia amid ongoing Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip arrive in Jabalia, northern Gaza, on Friday, May 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Displaced Palestinians fleeing Beit Lahia amid ongoing Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip arrive in Jabalia, northern Gaza, on Friday, May 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Palestinians struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Jabalia, northern Gaza Strip, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Palestinians struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Jabalia, northern Gaza Strip, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
Palestinians struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Jabalia, northern Gaza Strip, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Israeli soldiers work on tanks and APCs at a staging area near the border with the Gaza Strip, in southern Israel, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
