FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact:
Amy A. Kirk Duvoisin
Marketing Director
The French Market Corporation
1008 North Peters Street 3rd Floor
New Orleans, LA 70116
(504) 636-6370
(504) 289-0789 cellular

(New Orleans, Louisiana-August 12, 2016): On Saturday September 10th from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., the 4th annual Downriver Festival will offer another multisensory celebration of the Mississippi River at the Old U.S. Mint and French Market. Live music, cooking demonstrations, presentations and panels, walking tours, and informational displays will reflect this year's 2016 theme of Oysters & The Future of our Coast.

Presented by a coalition of organizations and institutions that includes the Louisiana State Museum, The Friends of the Cabildo, The French Market Corporation, The New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park, the Louisiana Museum Foundation and Slow Food New Orleans, this year's newest festival partners include Restore the Mississippi River Delta Coalition, Crescent Park, and the Port of New Orleans, with additional stage funding provided by New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation and the Consulate General of Mexico in New Orleans.

INDOOR SYMPOSIUMS: COASTAL RESTORATION, OYSTERS & MORE!
Restore the Mississippi Delta Coalition is the coordinating organization for the indoor symposiums dedicated to the 2016 theme of Oysters, with particular emphasis on wetland restoration. The talks are free and open to the public and will be held indoors on the third floor of the Old U.S. Mint. Speakers from the Louisiana Sea Grant project, Louisiana Oystermen Association, The Port of New Orleans, The Nature Conservancy, Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, Nicholls State University, and more, will discuss everything from oyster shell recycling programs to coastal management and oyster restoration efforts as seen through the eyes of filmmakers, port authorities, scientists, oystermen, and chefs.

COOKING DEMONSTRATIONS at the Downriver Culinary Stage at the French Market:
Cooking demonstrations from chefs at Café Henri, New Orleans School of Cooking, and J's Seafood Dock, plus oyster shucking lessons by 2 Girls 1 Shuck are just a few of the presenters at the farmers market between 11:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. While in the French Market farmers market, enjoy several daily vendors who serve up fresh and fried oysters.

National Park Service Centennial Anniversary Stage AT THE OLD U.S. MINT, OUTDOOR, BARRACKS STREET SIDE
11:45 a.m. - 12:45 a.m. - Pepe Coloma
1:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. Fredy Omar con su Banda
2:15 p.m. - 3:15 p.m. National Park Service Centennial Band
3:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. Bruce Barnes & the Louisiana Sunspots
5:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. Honey Island Swamp Band

COMPLIMENTARY WALKING TOURS TO CRESCENT PARK, part of the French Market District
12 p.m. 2 p.m. & 4 p.m. Crescent Park is a 1.4 mile, 20 acre urban linear park that connects our community and visitors to our riverfront. Tours will be conducted by local, licensed tour guide Dave Thomas and will include a history of riverfront commerce, the River's impact on New Orleans then and now, riverfront changes, and more. Tours are approximately 40 minutes and will begin at the Old U.S. Mint Jazz Park Visitor Center first floor gift shop, 400 Esplanade Avenue. Three tours will be held: 12 noon, 2:00 p.m., and 4:00 p.m.

Contact: Please continue to check the calendar and the Downriver Festival Facebook page for schedule updates. Contact Amy Kirk Duvoisin, marketing director at French Market Corporation, at 504-636-6370 for more information and details.

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