*The National Fried Chicken Festival will move forward without Nelly and Dillon Francis after severe weather forced organizers to reschedule the New Orleans event.
The festival originally planned its 10th-anniversary celebration for Oct. 2-4. Organizers moved the event to Oct. 9-11 at the Lakefront Arena Festival Grounds because of threatening weather. Nelly and Dillon Francis cannot perform during the rescheduled weekend, WAFB reports. However, organizers retained most of the previously announced entertainment lineup.
“Moving an event of this size on such short notice is no small undertaking,” founder and executive producer Cleveland Spears III said. “Being able to preserve nearly all of the experience we had planned for our 10th anniversary means a great deal to us. We can’t wait to welcome everyone back to the Lakefront next weekend.”
The revised festival will begin Friday with Locals Day, featuring Louisiana performers Marc Broussard and Shamarr Allen. Friday’s programming will run from 3 to 9 p.m.
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Big Freedia will perform Saturday with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra. Webbie will also take the stage, while the festival’s second annual FCF 5K Run/Walk will happen that morning.
Sunday’s lineup includes 2 Chainz, Keri Hilson, Ying Yang Twins and A-Trak. Saturday and Sunday festival hours will run from 11 a.m. until 9 p.m.
The schedule change also affects people who purchased tickets for the original weekend. According to the National Fried Chicken Festival, those tickets remain valid for the corresponding days on the new schedule.
Ticket holders who cannot attend Oct. 9-11 can request refunds. Organizers also temporarily returned single-day and weekend passes to early-bird pricing after announcing the postponement.
The festival marks its 10th anniversary this year after launching in 2016. Organizers expanded the celebration to three days, combining its food offerings with an ambitious live music schedule.
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