Jazz & Heritage Foundation enters new contract terms with Festival Productions, Inc.

David W. Oestreicher, first vice president of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and Foundation, made the announcement that Festival Productions, Inc., a company which has produced Jazz Fest since its inception, will retain the rights to do so under a new contract.

Oestreicher and the NOJHFF Board contemplated two other production companies, but opted to give Festival Productions, Inc. an encore.

Oestreicher said the negotiations were win for the Foundation, and for fans of Jazz Fest. “I’m very optimistic about this going forward as one of New Orleans’ premier cultural events,” he said.

Declines in attendance and a rain soaked year in 2003 caused the festival to lose money for the first time since the early 1970s. This put the Foundation in financial straits, which were alleviated and corrected under Oestreicher’s term on the board.