And the night before the city opens, he's throwing a New Orleans party in Jackson Square.

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While the site of the festival has grown exponentially and moved to the New Orleans Fairgrounds, Congo Square and Stage is still geographically positioned in the center of the festival, further instilling that first festival decision.

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Meryl Streep is the narrator and she explains how New Orleans was once sheltered by 1000 square miles of disappearing wetlands.

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President Obama, who has mainly limited his comments about New Orleans to feel-good boilerplate, did pledge to make good on President Bush's promise on that eerie, floodlit night in a deserted Jackson Square in 2005, to rebuild New Orleans better and stronger.

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On April 30th the focus switches to New Orleans, the birthplace of jazz, where a special concert will take place in Congo Square just after sunrise.

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