Thousands drawn to Voodoo's music, sights

NEW ORLEANS – It's first and foremost a music festival, but the Voodoo Experience is so much more.

Each fall, the festival transforms City Park into a colorful canvas filled with bright, circus-like props and bizarre artistic creations.

Fans say that well-rounded attack on the senses sets Voodoo apart.

A native of the New Orleans area, Christy Taylor can’t imagine such a spectacle in her current city, Austin, Texas.

"Even though Austin is a place where everyone does music, everyone's a musician, nothing but live music -- you would never see anything like this at all. So, it's amazing," she said. "I'm glad they have it here. You couldn't have this anywhere else."

Voodoo is saturated with New Orleans flavor -- from surprise second lines, to routine performances by local acts. From Big Sam's Funky Nation to Jane’s Addiction or DJ Soulsister to Widespread Panic, the event blends the city’s signature sounds with some of the biggest names in music.

It’s a formula Voodoo founder Steve Rehage continually builds upon.

"KISS is blowing up half the stage on one side, Preservation Hall is over here jamming traditional jazz, so, it's an interesting mix," Rehage said.

The festival has seen steady growth over the years, but Rehage said he’s faced plenty of challenges along the way.

"We started the event in 1999, didn't have a clue in what we were doing, just got our butts whipped all over the place the first year and made every mistake known to man, came back the next year and sold out with Eminem," he said.

And despite a one year slump after Hurricane Katrina, the momentum continues. Last year, organizers sold 143,000 tickets.

Voodoo has become a three day celebration -- attracting fans from points across the map.
"I've never missed a Voodoo my whole life,” said Anna Ogden, a New Orleans native who now lives in the Rocky Mountain region. “I flew from Colorado just to make it here this year. It's an awesome, awesome festival."

Saturday, Voodoo doubled as an enormous costume party, as thousands of fans swayed to the music in their Halloween get-ups.

The event’s contract with City Park expires this year, but Voodoo officials expect to hammer out a new 10 year deal sometime next month. They believe the festival will keep growing.

The marketing strategies are simple: viral promotion, a little traditional advertising, but mostly, word of mouth.

The word is out.

"60 percent of our audience is from out of town, and it's really the way we market it, is an international music festival for music lovers," Rehage said.