29th annual French Quarter fest comes April 12-15 Associated Press Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Updated 12:23 p.m., Thursday, February 9, 2012 When the four-day festival kicks off April 12, there will be more than 20 stages strewn throughout the historic French Quarter neighborhood in such places as historic Jackson Square, the open-air French Market and the grassy park along the Mississippi River. Last year roughly 500,000 people attended the festival, making it one of the largest free music festivals in the country, said Marci Schramm, executive director of French Quarter Festivals, Inc. Schramm discussed the festival and this year's lineup during a news conference Thursday in Jackson Square ...