Gretna Heritage Festival

OK. So I am lame. I have been invited to house parties near the festival area for years, but I've never gone. This year with the Sunday closers being Pat Benatar followed by the B-52s. Yep I'm there.Small pet peeve. There is no way to buy advance tickets locally without all the ticketmaster fees so my $20 advance ticket instantly became a $31 & change one. Wait to pay the $25 in cash a the door and risk a line...Lots of food options and drink options. I enjoyed my frozen sangria and I should have made it back to whatever bar/restaurant was offering spooky batched cocktails. My favorite moment outside of the headliners was the Chee Weez singing Don't Stop Believing... and changing the lyric from "born in South Detroit" to "born in Westwego" which doesn't really scan but was funny. The shuttle from Oakwood was super easy and the staff was really nice!

2016........WHAT A BLAST!!!Went to Friday's Fest, to see and hear The Temptations and Kool and the Gang. Wish it wasn't 20 bucks entry, but...THE FEST/TOWN: Love the set up. Food from local restaurants RIGHT OUTSIDE their restaurants.. food trucks, artists, art and craft sales on the main walk. Friendly town, friendly people. Love the small town atmosphere with the big time entertainment. Drink sales from tents AND the restaurants. I saw smiles from just about everyone on the street.THE ENTERTAINMENT: I only went main stage. The sound/video set up was superb. I don't know who Gretna hired to take care of this, but it was TOP NOTCH. Even from the street there was a main stage screen and sound. Just awesome. The crowd was totally into the great R&B coming from stage. The Temptations were spot on, nostalgic, melodic, harmonic....great hits, great memories of those songs, people singing along and dancing to the music. Kool and the Gang.... total showmen, great singing, great musicianship, choreography. A great tribute to themselves. They've been doing this so long and yet ..the show seems personal to the crowd.Loved it. All of it.

Really enjoyed sitting on the Levee listening to Oat Benetar and the B-52's! I enjoyed the vendors and all the food selections! It was a family feel event and everyone had a great time! I enjoyed all the different stages and the set up/layout was perfect! The bands were awesome and looking forward for next year's event!

Do you like great food by local restaurants and generous servings of it?Do you like live music outside?Do you like homemade crafts and art?Do you like amusement park rides?Do you like big fests that have a "small town" feel?Well, then you need to get to Gretna fest! Not only will you get all of the above, but you will get an awesome time with friends and something to do on a weekend, besides the same old.I LOVE Gretna fest. I know that most love it because of the music and the music is a definite selling point, but I go for one thing and one thing only: the food. Oh yes. I use Gretna fest weekend as an excuse to eat myself stupid. They have all kinds of offerings from different restaurants all around Gretna and also New Orleans! And what I love most is that it's cheap and you get a serious bang for your buck. I can't remember where it was from, but I got catfish smothered in a delicious sauce and it was only $5 and I could barely finish it because there was so much of it! It was delicious and cheap...a total win.The live music is fantastic and can be enjoyed on a selection of different stages. With three days to choose from, there is bound to be a lot of different acts that you will enjoy.Local artists and vendors also sell their wares on the grounds and a lot of the stuff is great for gifts and there are a lot of things to collect.Great for families!And with the ferry that goes from Canal St to Gretna, you New Orleans folks have no excuses to not check it out at least once!

A nice little festival. Fun for the whole family.Just don't go there driving like a douche-bag. You will get a ticket.Just ask Tom.Don't be a Tom.

4/5 cute!this was a fun little festival. entry can feel steep, but i guess it pays for the fancy portable potties. i really like that it's a spread-out street festival - i don't feel overwhelmed and it's easy to stroll onto the next street if i'm feeling crowded. overall this was a really chill experience, and i felt like i could take my time and just appreciate hanging out in this little constructed environment. did i mention fancy portables? i think the part that i was also down for was the ferry ride over, and then the shuttles they provide! made getting here hassle-free!! i was really surprised by the lineup they had this year (2016), and will actually keep an eye out for next year!

Gretna is a gem on the Westbank of NOLA! Gretna is a quiet family-oriented city and the Gretna Fest exemplifies that in a great way. I love going to the Gretna Fest. It is the best planned festival IMO. The festival has a huge food court area with so many diverse choices. They also have rides for the kids but the best part is their music lineup is always the best (rivaling Jazzfest). The festival is so spread out yet they barricade all of it in order to have certain entrance/exit areas in order to sell tickets. So you do have to pay to go to this fest unlike most of our other fests. I usually take the ferry across the river now as looking for a place to park takes so long. Tickets last year were $15 per day. You can also buy a 3-day ticket for less.

Had a great time on Friday and ate way too much food. The great thing about this festival is that it has food vendors that aren't normally at a lot of the other festivals so you get the opportunity to sample many new things. I basically ate everything in the Italian area and a crawfish pie. Lots of good local bands last night but it never got uncomfortably crowded so it was easy to get around and enjoy lots of space while enjoying the music. One the great things about this festival is that it is spread out all over Gretna so you get to actually enjoy some of the local bars and restaurants in the area.

Crowded spaces, fair food, smelly port of pottys , only partially offset with concert talent, cheap beer, and typically cooler temps.

Wonderful music/food fest. It's about 25 years old and is hosted by the City of Gretna. Great band and good food yet they have been able to maintain it as more or less a locals event unlike the Jazz Fest which is known worldwide is it very touristy!