Popp Bandstand in 1941. Designed by Emile Weir, it has a raised concrete rotunda and is encircled with ionic columns under a bronze dome. A frieze under the dome is inscribed with: “Tribute of John F Popp to music.”
In the early 1900s, live music performances in City Park were one of the most popular things to do in New Orleans. A wooden bandstand was erected in 1902, but classical architecture and music lovers John F. Popp and his wife Rebecca donated $7500 for a new pavilion that would better match the nearby Peristyle.
On July 4, 1917, Popp Bandstand was dedicated at a patriotic wartime concert. It proved to be a popular and beautiful spot for music al fresco, drawing names as big as John Philip Sousa, who performed there in 1928 (and has a live oak near the bandstand named after him). Free Wednesday night concerts during the 1930s featured Harry Mendelson’s band, vaudeville, and operettas.
The bandstand served not only as a venue for concerts and patriotic celebrations, but also dance recitals, flower shows, fencing exhibitions, children’s variety and magic shows, Easter Egg hunts, community singalongs, and more. In 1931, the first carnival ball of the year was held there, with children performing a tableaux before the ball and the crowning of the king and queen. At least one other queen was anointed at Popp Bandstand: the Queen of Safety in 1952, sponsored by the City’s Department of Safety and the Optimist Club.
Popp’s Bandstand also served as a gathering spot for events. In the 40s and 50s, duck calling classes (to prepare for an annual statewide duck-calling contest held at the St Charles Hotel) drew over 150 eager students, trading calls with the ducks in the lagoon.
The fish weighing station for the Big Bass Rodeo at City Park was at the bandstand. Started in 1946, it is the longest running freshwater fishing contest in the country. The rodeo drew almost 800 anglers by its fourth year, but currently there about half that number of participants.
Live music concerts at City Park started to fade out of popularity in the 1960s, and by the end of the ‘70s, they were no longer being held at the bandstand. Despite a few attempts at reviving the custom over the decades, you’re more likely to see a wedding reception than a concert performance these days.
