The Mid-City Bayou Boogaloo is coming up this weekend, marking the unofficial start to summer for many Mid-City dwellers. This free 3-day family-friendly music and arts festival was started in 2005 and is held on the banks of Bayou St. John. It features live music, a huge variety of food vendors, an art market, and athletics. There is a kids tent with all sorts of kid-friendly activities and performers, as well. The festival runs from Friday, May 15 through Sunday, May 17.

This year's music lineup includes Mannie Fresh, Terrance Simien & the Zydeco Express, The Wild Magnolias, the New Orleans Suspects, Kristin Diable, Dumpstaphunk, Meschiya Lake and Tom McDermott, and many more. Full music schedule is available here: http://thebayouboogaloo.com/music.

WWOZ will be live broadcasting from this event on May 16 & 17 according to the schedule here.

New this year is the "Paddle Battle" paddleboat race that will be held on Sunday from 8am-11am. If landlubbing is more your style, the festival also has a 5K walk/runand a half-mile fun run on Saturday morning at 8:30am and 9:30am, respectively. Both races end with a private post-race party. The races are sponsored by OPSO and Zulu. Winners receive handcrafted Zulu-style awards, and the grand prize winner gets a truly grand New Orleans-style prize: a chance to ride in the Zulu Parade on Mardi Gras! Race registration is online or in person on race day.