Editor’s note: In theory, Jazz Fest is all about the music. However, in its 45-year run, the festival has arguably become just as much about its respective people-watching opportunities as its jams. With the seven-day span, over a mile of buzzing crowds and a tremendous volume of eccentric characters in tow, it’s impossible to catch every intriguing tattoo, quirky outfit, or muddy set of feet. To maximize your fest-oriented people-watching, in a three-part mini-series NolaVie contributor Robert Warren set out to catch the best “overseen” snapshots at Jazz Fest.
He asked Jazz Festers…
“Tell us about your hat”:
Who: Christine from New York City
“I just love celebrating and New Orleans is the best place in the world to do it.”
Who: George Rosevally
“I caught this hat at a Muses parade, five six years ago, and I put it on my head, it fit. It’s like, I know what I’m going to do with this hat. I’m gonna wear it to Jazz Fest, and I’ve been wearing it ever since. It’s the only time I wear it. It’s semi-unique…I like it. People recognize me. They know the hat, and we’re gonna have a great time at Jazz Fest. The buttons are [from] a group of guys who have an area at the Acura stage.”
Who: Dan Markor, Nan Daniels, Jimmy Warren II
“Big Jimmy Buffet fan from Salt Lake City, Utah. Since I’m a Jimmy Buffet fan that makes me a Parrothead, and here we have a couple parrots, here to come and join Jimmy’s magical music.”
Who: Candy
“This is my 35th Jazz Fest, in a row … This hat is a work in progress because as I go through the festivals I pick up various pins, feathers, and other things to add to it. And the hat sometimes doesn’t quite make it as long as the pins do, so it’s like the third hat I’ve had in the past 35 years … What’s a good word? People know who I am. Recognizable.
Who: Kevin Mobley
“This one is probably 8 years old. All of the pins are significant from different people, different things that were given to me, or picked up from different fests. We’ve been coming to fests for over 20 years … They all represent something. One of them is from a friend of ours that we lost a couple years ago. That’s probably a special one. That’s kinda the story. It builds up year after year. You always get something new every year to add to it.”
Check back tomorrow for more “Overseen at Jazz Fest,” when Robert Warren asks festers how to make it to the front row of the Tony Bennet and Lady Gaga concert.
NOLAbeings Multimedia artist Claire Bangser created NOLAbeings as a portrait-based story project that marries... 
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