Sales Tax and Locals Thursday Ticket News for Jazz Fest 2023

On Sunday, the food lines returned to normal, by Alex Rawls

Those surprised by going cashless at Jazz Fest may have a second shock coming, and Locals Thursday tickets will be available early.

The switch to a cashless Jazz Fest shocked attendees on Friday, though the lines got better as the weekend progressed. They may be in for a second shock when they look at their bank statements. The $10 hot sausage po-boy from Vaucresson’s show will show up as $10.95, and the $7 strawberry cheesecake actually cost $7.66. The difference is the sales tax, 9.45 percent in Orleans Parish. In the past, the tax was officially included in the menu price; now according to Festival Productions, tax is added on top of the menu price.

This may in part explain the move to cashless purchases. The festival’s cash-based system in the past meant that the vendors’ tax payments were almost certainly approximations if not outright fictions. There were never tallies or accountings of what was sold—that the public could see, anyway—so taxes were likely paid based on calculations or estimations. Now that the system runs through computers, there’s a clear, more accurate accounting of actual sales.

In other Jazz Fest news, the festival is taking steps to make Locals Thursday tickets easier to buy. Fans who wish to buy $50 “Locals Day” tickets may do so online at NOJazzFest.com or the Jazz Fest app with no billing fees. The sale starts Tuesday at noon and runs through Wednesday at 11 p.m. Credit card holders with Louisiana billing zip codes can buy the $50 tickets with a two-ticket maximum. Tickets will be mobile-only, non-printable and non-transferrable. Buyers who purchase two tickets will need to arrive at the gate with their guests.

Locals Thursday tickets will also remain available at the Fair Grounds as they have been in the past.