Music & BBQ Come Together In NOLA: Hogs For The Cause 2017 Recap & Photos
By Wesley Hodges Apr 3, 2017 • 9:03 am PDT
Photo by Wesley Hodges
Words & Images by: Wesley Hodges
Hogs For The Cause :: 03.31-04.01.17 :: UNO Lakefront Arena Grounds :: New Orleans, LA
The annual Hogs For The Cause competitive BBQ cooking and music festival went down for the ninth year in a new spacious location in the parking lot adjacent to UNO Lakefront Arena. Ninety BBQ teams competed and the event raised over $1.3 million for pediatric brain cancer.
Each year the festival’s lineup has been geared towards Americana, alt-country, bluegrass and southern rock sounds and 2017’s incarnation was no different. On Friday night, Chris Robinson Brotherhood headlined the NOLA Brewing Stage after a stellar set at dusk by Futurebirds and standout afternoon performances by Los Coast and The London Souls, while Shreveport’s Seratones closed down the Blue Plate Stage. As the first day’s official musical activities wound down, after parties thrown by various BBQ teams began promptly after Chris Robinson, Neal Casal and Co. exited the main stage, going deep into the night, many featuring local DJs and bands.
Photo by Wesley Hodges
On Saturday, early arriving attendees were welcomed with perfect weather conditions and performances by a couple of promising acts out of Music City (Aaron Lee Tasjean and Los Colognes). The Los Colognes set on the smallest Phelps Dunbar stage stood out the hidden early gem of the weekend. Fruit Bats and Railroad Earth covered the middle of the day on Saturday on the main stage before Shovels & Rope, Escondido and George Porter Jr. and the Runnin’ Pardners closed out the festival’s three stages.
What started as a small charity event among friends in Audubon Park has evolved over the last eight years into one of the most prominent Americana music festivals in the country and a formidable fundraising operation for a very important cause.
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