"We are proud to announce that American music icons Simon & Garfunkel will be making their first-ever appearance at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival presented by Shell," event organizers said today. The Saturday, April 24 performance by Simon & Garfunkel at Jazz Fest will be the only chance to see the legendary duo in the U.S. this year. The Festival is scheduled for April 23-May 2, 2010.
Read more here:

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/news.php?id=47893

I'm going to assume the question is linked to another question: Why is this act being booked for a jazz festival?
The simple answer is "the bottom line."
Here, we have the Mississippi Delta Blues & Heritage Festival. For years, it was just blues, no heritage.
In recent years, organizers have been stung by criticism for booking such artists as The Manhattans, The O'Jays and Tito Jackson (although he didn't make it). The response has been twofold: a) "& Heritage" gives them some leeway, b) all forms of popular music are rooted in the blues.
While those answers have a ring of truth, the real reason is money. If all they booked were traditional blues and modern blues acts, crowds would be smaller.
I think that's what's happened to the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, which I believe also did not have "heritage" as part of its name in the beginning.

I am surprised by that myself. I would think that that area would be a hot bed for the blues. Chicago has a major blues festival on the lake front every year that draws major crowds, of course it is free and that does make a difference.

As a blues fan it is sad to see the loss of crowds at festivals like the New Orleans festival and others around the country.

I can't say that our festival lost its fan base. I haven't seen the numbers to back that up. And to be clear, the majority of the performers are blues artists. A number of smaller festivals, that stick to the blues, have good crowds, but not break-the-bank crowds.
Tourists from all over the world come here for festivals and sometimes just to visit the clubs and juke joints. But corporate sponsorship isn't what it used to be. That means the organizations that put the festivals on don't make any money. So for the big festival, the idea is to bring in someone well known outside of blues circles, who'll attract that extra 5,000 or so, in addition to local fans who won't spend $30 to see bands that play here all the time, but will if they get the local/regional bands as well as the national acts.

Makes sense, Indianapolis has a similar festival that has brought in jazz, blues and well as others over the years. I grew up in the sixties listening to a lot of Motown style soul and have always had a spot for R&B sounds. But never really got into the blues until the past few years. Not that I didn't like the sound just never had the chance to hear it that often up here in small town mid America. A visit to the Chicago blues fest a few years back changed all that, that is why I am hoping to see festivals like this stay alive, even if it means bringing in someone like S & G just to get more people an introduction to this great music.

That same idea can be applied to jazz and smooth jazz as well, do what ever it takes to bring the public out to see some of this stuff. My wife and I keep finding friends from work who have never heard some of the more contemporary jazz artists and we like to drag them out to a show when ever possible. Always fun to see their reaction to finding out there is more to music then rock, pop or country.

That's a good point, Dave. I admit, it rubs me the wrong way to see S & G on any kind of jazz or blues festival line up - I mean, that's just WRONG - but in these economic times, first and foremost I want to see jazz and blues related festivals keep happening.

And I couldn't agree more with you that contemporary jazz has an appeal to many people who don't know that it exists. Good for you for turning folks onto it who love music, but who might not otherwise discover that jazz is something they can really relate to and enjoy.

The New Orleans Jazz Fest has a long history of bringing in pop/rock acts. I guess they must sell tickets to have a festival next year. Peace and goodwill.