timing and shuttle for first weekend

[cbbjr]

Headed to Jazz Fest (first weekend) for the first time. Can't wait. My wife and I are staying at the Sheraton and have shuttle tickets. Saturday night we have a dinner reservation at 9pm.

The schedule says that bands will finish at 7pm. If they stick to the schedule, this would give us two hours to leave, get on the shuttle, make it back to the Sheraton, clean up (this could take an hour), and then walk the 15 minutes or so to dinner. For anyone who has taken the shuttle, is this realistic, or should we plan on leaving before the bands finish? Also, how likely is it that the bands will stick to the times on the schedule/it will end at 7pm? We would like to stay to hear everything, but we have seen several of Saturday night's headliners before, so it isn't the end of the world if we have to cut it short.

Thanks for any advice. I'm counting down the days.

[csoul]

Headed to Jazz Fest (first weekend) for the first time. Can't wait. My wife and I are staying at the Sheraton and have shuttle tickets. Saturday night we have a dinner reservation at 9pm.

The schedule says that bands will finish at 7pm. If they stick to the schedule, this would give us two hours to leave, get on the shuttle, make it back to the Sheraton, clean up (this could take an hour), and then walk the 15 minutes or so to dinner. For anyone who has taken the shuttle, is this realistic, or should we plan on leaving before the bands finish? Also, how likely is it that the bands will stick to the times on the schedule/it will end at 7pm? We would like to stay to hear everything, but we have seen several of Saturday night's headliners before, so it isn't the end of the world if we have to cut it short.

Thanks for any advice. I'm counting down the days.

Hey there, CBBJR. Welcome to the bored!
As a general rule of thumb, the bands pretty much end up at 7. In my experience, the only time I can remember it going too much later than that is on 2nd Sunday. There are a lot of folks who will probably chime in with much more experience than I, though.
As long as your shuttle doesn't get caught up in a lot of the fest traffic or have to wait for riders to make it back from the fairgrounds, I would say you'll probably be in good shape to make your 9:00 rezzies.

[i wanna be in NOLA]

Fest traffic can be a major issue. A couple years ago there was such a tremendous traffic back-up along Canal that the buses couldn't unload to turn around and go back and pick up another load of passengers. We ended up waiting in line at the fairgrounds until well after 8:00 because there were no buses in the lot. Then, once we got on a bus and within a couple blocks of the Sheraton, the bus driver suggested we get out and walk the rest of the way because it was going to take another half hour to go those two blocks. We finally met our friends for dinner around 10:30 and waited over an hour to get a seat at the restaurant.

We left early the rest of that weekend and didn't have any trouble. Also, we'd never had any trouble before then. Probably just a fluke event, but it does happen. You've got two hours between end-of-fest and your dinner reservation so you'll probably be fine. Maybe heading over towards the bus lot a few minutes early is a good idea. You can still hear the music from the Gentilly stage while you're waiting in the bus line.

[Lostcajun]

Don't be intimidated by this. NOLA is used to handling crowds. Early is a good thing, plan ahead leave earlier than you'd think at east the first day, and then adjust from there. Treat everything has a fun part of the experience.

[Staxsun]

Headed to Jazz Fest (first weekend) for the first time. Can't wait. My wife and I are staying at the Sheraton and have shuttle tickets. Saturday night we have a dinner reservation at 9pm.

The schedule says that bands will finish at 7pm. If they stick to the schedule, this would give us two hours to leave, get on the shuttle, make it back to the Sheraton, clean up (this could take an hour), and then walk the 15 minutes or so to dinner. For anyone who has taken the shuttle, is this realistic, or should we plan on leaving before the bands finish? Also, how likely is it that the bands will stick to the times on the schedule/it will end at 7pm? We would like to stay to hear everything, but we have seen several of Saturday night's headliners before, so it isn't the end of the world if we have to cut it short.

Thanks for any advice. I'm counting down the days.

While it's true that your chances of making it are okay, in my opinion, I'd sneak out a little early if you don't have to hear every last song. The buses leave as they fill up, and sometimes the ones going that direction fill up quickly, and you have to wait for one to return. Usually they have enough buses, but this is a possibility. If you are on a bus before the end of Fest, you'll get out quickly. Sometimes my nicer half also takes a little longer to get ready, especially after a hot day at the JF.

[stlbarb]

an hour? i think they're having desert before they have dinner. ;) :D

[csoul]

an hour? i think they're having desert before they have dinner. ;) :D

Well, it IS New Orleans........stranger things have happened!