Twin Sisters Reunite: Haiti and New Orleans Dance, Pray, and Party Together in the first GedeFest

Food, music, ceremony merge to celebrate the ties that bind two of Francophone North America’s cultural hotbeds

Separated by seas and centuries, now reunited at last – sounds like a mash-up of fairytale endings. But for attendees of this year’s GedeFest, the fairytale comes alive as musicians, dancers, chefs, photographers, and filmmakers from New Orleans and Haiti converge to revel in their Francophone-American heritage.

Linked through shared African spirituality, GedeFest is Mardi Gras’s autumn counterpart – a perfect time to revel in Haitianola’s past and to anticipate future celebrations. Where else can you savor fried African dumplings, learn new rhythms from New Orleans’s Preservation Hall Jazz Band (now in Haiti for the first time!), and jam the night away to innovative Haitian sounds (thanks to RAM), jazz, and drums on the same stage?

This year’s GedeFest takes place from October 25 to November 3, 2018 at venues in Port-au-Prince and Jacmel, two of Haiti’s liveliest cities. Under a new umbrella brand-concept “Twins Sisters Reunited”, GedeFest emphasizes the vibrant cultural relationship between New Orleans and Haiti. These sisters share over two hundred years of history – a proud and troubled history that includes Haiti’s 1791 uprising, which drove Haitian refugees and African slaves to New Orleans and forced Napoleon to sell the Louisiana Purchase to the United States.

“This idea came to me when RAM played the New Orleans Jazz Fest in 2011,” explains Richard Morse, the driving force behind the festival and RAM. “Donald Link came down to Haiti, and he loved RAM and then brought us to his Balle Masque, and then we got to be part of Arcade Fire’s Carnival krewe. We played on Congo Square and then did a rara, with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. When we were on stage on the square, Ben Jaffe came up to me between songs and said, ‘I’m going to bring the band to the Oloffson. That stuck in my head.” Morse figured out the perfect time to make it happen: during the annual Gede festivities.

GedeFest’s events center around Hotel Oloffson, one of Port-au-Prince’s most beautiful landmarks. Built in the 19^th century and host to famous jet-setting Americans since the 1950s, Hotel Oloffson is now the home venue for RAM band. Deep-rooted Haitian melodies, West African-inflected rhythms, and punk rock textures make RAM’s work an important iteration of Haitian tradition irresistible to party lovers.

In addition to All Stars live concerts, a block party, and daily GedeFest themed Happy Hours (at the Marriott Port-au-Prince, Le Plaza Hotel, Le Prince Hotel, Gingerbread Restaurant, Yanvalou Café-Bar-Restaurant) GedeFest will also offer conferences, art exhibits, Vodou luck baths, mater classes occurring at multiple sites around the cities of Port-au-Prince. Attendees can follow the party to Jacmel as of Friday, 2 November for the Jije ‘m Byen (Judge me the right way) block party ( at rue du Commerce) featuring Gardy Girault  and  DJ Windows 98 (Win Butler of Arcade Fire) and Ayiti a Nou Ye ( We are Haiti) concert (on Saturday, 3 November at Jacmel’s Wharf Toursitique).

On October 31 and November 1, the festival climaxes with the Day of the Dead – for the heart of GedeFest, Fèt Gede “Feast of the Dead,” is a commemoration of the ancestors through Haiti’s vodou tradition. During the day, participants can tour Port-au-Prince’s historic cemetery. Both evenings, grand celebrations will meld music, dancing, and food from New Orleans with Haiti’s spirituality.  Concerts will feature headliners bands RAM and Preservation Hall Jazz Band and involve a variety of other performers. After parties will feature DJ Bullet and DJ Windows 98 (Win Butler of Arcade Fire).

To satisfy attendees’ intellectual curiosity, a Roots Lecture at Maison Dufort on October 26 will allow attendees to consider Haiti and New Orleans’ history. Attendees can view documentaries about Haitanola legends in Port-au-Prince’s open-air plaza. A Sunday afternoon pool party and trivia festival on 28 October gives attendees the opportunity to show off their knowledge of Haiti and New Orleans’ music heritage in a less formal venue. Finally, for musicians attending the festival, wind and brass master classes will meet on Tuesday, 30 October and Saturday, 3 November (pre-registration required).

“New Orleans embraces the spiritual practices, though in Haiti people are a bit more nervous about it,” says Morse. “People from New Orleans come back to Haiti and feel their roots. But really, it’s just a big party.”

Attendees as individuals or as groups can register for package tours with Agence Citadelle, the festival’s official travel agency. The core package includes airport transportation, hotel stay, and registration for events. Interested parties may contact gedefest@agencecitadelle.com for more information.