Since the 1st New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Holiday in 1970, the town has brims with more music, food, and fun of all sorts than common for the period of the event. The holiday, which usually happens over the course of 2 weekends in the Spring, rivals Mardi Gras, captivating over 650,000 guests. Except for jazz, holiday tents and independent places alike pump blues, RB, Cajun, zydeco, and plenty of other styles of people and pop music. The Festival commenced in 1970 when the New Orleans Hotel Motel organisation formed the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation to mark the rich musical heritage of the town, considered the birthplace of jazz. The foundation uses the results of the holiday to back community development programs that concentrate on education and culture. George Wein, who had made the Newport Jazz Holiday , was put in command of making the 1st New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Holiday . When it commenced, it allegedly attracted only 350 audience members, and was sufficiently little to be held in Louis Armstrong Park, in the section known as Congo Square. The site was chosen as it was where African were aloud to collect to play their music and dance during the times of slavery. After 2 years nevertheless, the holiday had outgrown the square, and moved to the New Orleans Fair Grounds and Racetrack, where it is still. Although it commenced as a showcase for nothing except local acts, the holiday now pulls global artists. In its virtually 4 decades, musicians including Miles Davis, Aretha Franklin, Duke Ellington, Tito Puente, The Enticements , Ella Fitzgerald, Erykah Badu, Dizzy Gillespie, and many others have graced its stages.