I saw skies of blue and clouds of white. The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night. And I think to myself, what a wonderful world.

Louis Armstrong was born in New Orleans on August 4, 1901. Each year, the Satchmo Summer Fest is held to commemorate this beloved jazz musician and celebrate his birthday. He was famous for his unique voice and trumpet talent. He is well known for "What A Wonderful World", "Star Dust", and "La Via En Rosa".

The very first Satchmo Summer Fest was held in 2001 on Louis Armstrong's 100th birthday. Originally, they were only going to hold the festival that one time to commemorate his 100th birthday, but the festival ended up being so popular that they have had it every year since.

This year, it was held in Jackson Square. I really enjoyed being at the festival in Jackson Square because it really is the heart of the French Quarter. Normally, Jackson Square is very mellow with the occasional bride taking her bridal photos. The weekend of the Satchmo Summer Fest turned the mellow Jackson Square into a lively celebration.

Of course, the festival was filled with booths for drinks and fantastic food. We decided to try the shrimp and goat cheese crepe from Muriel's booth. Delicious!

We also grabbed a Linchburg Lemonade to sip on as we enjoyed the live music.

There's nothing like being in the city surrounded by people who are looking for any reason to celebrate. Louis Armstrong's birthday was the perfect excuse for the city to celebrate!

Not only did this festival have food, drinks and live music, but they also had seminars about jazz and Louis Armstrong's life throughout the weekend. Let me tell you, his life was not exactly easy. He was born very poor and his mother was a prostitute. He was arrested once when he shot his stepfather's gun into the air at a celebration. He was sent to Colored Waif's Home for Boys where he learned how to play the cornet. This is where he fell in love with music and realized that he wanted to live for making music. He immediately began working on his dream, but had to work jobs on the side like selling newspapers to come up with the money he needed. Armstrong switched from the cornet to the trumpet in 1926. He also had some other setbacks in life that include some trouble with the American mob. He was married four times but never had any children from those marriages. However, he did adopt a boy named Clarance when the boy was 3 years old. Clarance was mentally handicapped from a head trauma, which just added to the struggles of Armstrong's life. He also had a daughter from a girlfriend named Sharon. Armstrong would play the trumpet so much that his lips would get callused and he would shave them off himself. He adopted the nickname "Satchmo" because the other jazz musicians called him "satchel mouth" due to Armstrong always having a satchel full of stories in his mouth. Other people say that he was called "satchel mouth" because of large mouth and cheeks."Satchel mouth" was eventually shortened to "Satchmo". He died on July 6, 1971.

I had a great time at the Satchmo Summer Fest with my mom. We loved learning about this beloved jazz musician's life and celebrating him on his birthday!