GonzoFest 2025

New Orleans

May 15th — 18th, 2025

About The Venues

The Allways Lounge

2240 St Claude Ave.

FREE

Garden District Bookshop

2727 Prytania St, Ste 8
New Orleans, LA 70130

Tickets @ the door: $10/one night & $20/the whole weekend.

“Buy the ticket, take the ride.”

Hunter S. Thompson

GonzoFest, an annual festival, founded by US National Lifetime Beat Poet Laureate Ron Whitehead, celebrates the life and legacy of author and journalist Hunter S. Thompson, famous for his work with Rolling Stone and for still-wildly popular books, including Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. GonzoFest was a huge success for ten years in Louisville, Kentucky. This year it is celebrating its first-ever incursion into New Orleans, with headliners like jazz legend David Amram, playing with four local jazz musicians; Outlaw Journalist author William McKeen; and more of the crème de la crème in “Gonzo royalty.”

Big-name draws from around the country include popular authors like Tim Denevi and three jam-packed panels: Hunter by Friends Who Knew Him, Daughters of Gonzo, and Rock ‘n Roll, as well as a panel on a brand-new book of essays on Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Join us as well for a walking tour of Hunter’s favorite New Orleans haunts and a play about Oscar Zeta Acosta, just to mention a few attractions.

Schedule

Time waits for no one, but we’ve pinned it down for you. The schedule is your survival guide through this chaotic odyssey. Memorize it—or risk being lost in the fray.

Thursday

May 15

The Allways Lounge

6:30 – 8:30 pm

A Gathering of Poets from around the country reading their Poetry before the Garden Book Shop event
  • Mark Lipman
  • PW Covington
  • Claire Conroy
  • Chris Byrd
  • Atlas
  • Kia Groom

  • Tyler Frederick

  • Wyatt VanZuuk
  • Frogg Corpse
  • Ron Whitehead
  • Kent Fielding
  • and others

Friday

May 16

Garden District Bookshop

  • EVENING:

    5:00 MUSIC: by the Zu Zu Ya Ya band, https://www.zuzuyaya.com/

  • 5:40: Readings by Mark Lipman, US National Beat Poet Laureate 2024 to 2025, founder of the press Vagabond, winner of the 2015 Joe Hill Labor Poetry Award

  • 6:00: Christopher Tidmore welcomes the audience

  • 6:10: Lifetime US National Beat Poet Laureate Ron Whitehead delivers a 15-minute Keynote Address on The State of Gonzo

  • 6:25: Romain Thomassin (French filmmaker) shows–exclusively at the GonzoFest (otherwise restricted to Europe)–his “Hunter’s Favorite Spots in San Francisco” documentary, created for the highly popular “Inspiration: Invitation to Travel” TV series on the Arte channel in France. In the film are Hunter’s historic spots, such as Hwy 1 and the Seal Rock Inn. And short appearances by Peter Richardson, Margaret Harrell, and David Streitfeld on location in 2023.

  • 6:50: Bill McKeen gives a Power Point presentation on Rock ‘n Roll (embedded music)

  • 7:20: Music/Rock ‘n Roll panel: Bill McKeen, TR Johnson, David Amram – moderated by John Brick

  • 8:20: Peter Richardson presents “Gonzo as ‘The Problem with Gonzo'”

  • 9:00: Deborah Fuller–“Life at Owl Farm”–by her daughter, Kristine Ross

  • 9:30 to 10:00: Live. The Zu Zu Ya Ya band. Book signings in the background

Saturday

May 17

Garden District Bookshop

  • AFTERNOON

    12:00 to 2:00: Christopher Tidmore leads a Walking Tour of Hunter S. Thompson’s favorite New Orleans spots

  • 2:30: Music by Noel Mitchell, Tommy Twilight, Joe Kidd, and Sheila Burkes; poetry by Damien Rucci, Alex Ragsdale, Brendan Lorber, Dan Denton

  • EVENING

    5:00: Zu Zu Ya Ya – Live Music

  • 5:30: Maine Beat Poet Laureate Claire Conway

  • 5:45: Ron Whitehead–“Shooting Up Poetry in New Orleans” –backed by the band

  • 6:00 : “The Road to Hunter,” a film on Hunter S. Thompson thought lost, by Sarah Booth

  • 6:45: Pia Hinckle, gives a Work in Progress reading from her book: “Sorry for Fu#k You: A Father-Daughter Memoir of Drink, Ink & Catholicism”

  • 7:00: “Stories from the Daughters of Gonzo” –Pia and Hillary Hinckle (Warren’s daughters), Claire Clancy (daughter of Hunter’s lawyer John Clancy), Holly Krassner Dawson (Paul Krassner’s daughter), and Carlotta Acosta (Oscar Zeta Acosta’s niece) – moderated by Christopher Tidmore

  • 8:00 : Round Table discussion led by Kent Fielding–on the “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” essays, drawing on the expertise of the contributors. Participating are Victoria Elmwood, T. R. Johnson, Kurt Hemmer, and Ron Whitehead.

  • 9:00: Dr. John Brick: “A Walking Tour of Lost Resonances in ‘Vegas’ “

  • 10:00: end of the events on Saturday

  • 9:30 to 10:00: Zu Zu Ya Ya. Book signing in the background

Sunday

May 18

Garden District Bookshop

  • MORNING

    9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

    POETRY: Jimmy Broccoli, Walden Quinn Caesar, Paige Turner, Mark Lipman, Ella Rennekamp, Wyatt VanZuuk, Callia Fielding, Elise Pfeiffer, Elizabeth Nelson, Frogg Corpse, Kent Fielding, Tyler Frederick, Chris Byrd, Claire Conroy, Miles Burr, Jessica Bryant, Willow Senjamin, Anthea Snow, and Tom Murphy

    MUSIC: Joe Kidd with Shiela Burke; Kink Head with Conner Goldsmith

  • AFTERNOON

    1:15 “‘Hell’s Angels’ Letters” audiobook sample

  • 1:30: Panel: “Hunter by Those Who Knew Him,” with David Streitfeld, Curtis Robinson, Paul Wilcox, Margaret Harrell, and David Amram. Moderated by Tim Denevi

  • 2:30: Music by Dreamie Daze, book signings

  • 2:45: Grant Goodwine creates live Gonzo art on stage. People gather round; he typically lays it on the ground.

  • 3:45: Playwright Charles Morton introduces a readers’ theater performance of “Brown Buffalo,” about Oscar Zeta Acosta, which follows.

  • 5:15: Discussion about the play

  • 5:30: Music and poetry: Tommie Bays, Dreamie Daze, Michael E. Duckwell, and Chris Dean

  • 6:30: “Hunter on Campus,” a media presentation and Q & A by Curtis Robinson

  • 7:45: Claire Clancy, John Clancy’s daughter, reads the Medicine Journey story by her sister, Katie, who knew Hunter well.

  • 8:00: video tribute by Timothy Ferris (scientist, former editor at “Rolling Stone,” consultant to NASA, and longtime close friend of Hunter’s)

  • 8:30: New Orleans poets Carolyn Hembree and Andy Young

  • 9:00: Legendary jazz musician, composer, conductor David Amram & Co. perform, beginning with “The Sound and Meaning of Words” with Ron Whitehead.

Participants

Meet the ringmasters of this psychedelic circus. Our presenters are the wild-eyed prophets of Gonzo, ready to twist your mind and ignite your soul. Approach with curiosity and a dash of caution.

“Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.”

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Ride the Wave: Join the Gonzo Dispatch

Don’t get left behind when the next wild journey begins. Plug into the Gonzo Dispatch and be the first to know when the circus rolls back into town. Sign up now to stay ahead of the pack and dive deep into the heart of the action.

Rest easy—your personal data won’t become fodder for the vultures. We keep your secrets locked away, far from the grubby hands of the corporate beast.

Merch

T-shirts

$40 +shipping

Gear up, comrades. These aren’t just T-shirts—they’re a badge of honor in the war against the ordinary. Slip one on and wear the Gonzo spirit like a second skin.

Collector’s Program

$20 +shipping

Hold history in your hands—a Collector’s Program that’s more contraband than keepsake. It’s a roadmap through the wild terrains of Gonzo lore, limited and dangerously enlightening.

cards
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