The Dew Drop Inn Hotel & Lounge, after a 54-year pause, is hosting live music once again. The legendary Central City nightclub reopened Friday (March 1) with performances that paid homage to its storied history. The Dew Drop on the LaSalle Street was the city’s leading Black music venue during rock ‘n’ roll’s formative years. […]
business
Freret Street business owners contend with the quiet, look toward a comeback
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Signs for the Freret Street Festival have hung over the Freret business corridor for weeks. It’s the trademark spring event of the popular strip that runs from Tulane and Loyola universities to Napoleon Avenue.
The 2020 festival, originally scheduled for April 4, has gone the way of Jazz Fest and other events — postponed to a date yet to be determined. “It was a big boost,” Mojo Coffee House owner Angela Estevez said of the festival. “A lot of businesses, I think, that helps them get through the summer.”
In the years after Hurricane Katrina, Freret Street saw an influx of investment, with shuttered banks and gas stations transformed into restaurants, bars and coffee shops bringing new business to the area. In the throes of the coronavirus pandemic, the street, like the rest of the city, has come to a near standstill.