Rachel Ornelas

Jazz and Heritage Festival

Rachel Ornelas is the Cultural Heritage Manager for the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. She programs and curates multiple areas of the Festival including the Louisiana Folklife Village, Native American Village, Grandstand and served as Co-Chair creating the Festival’s Sustainability Department. She has worked with many large-scale events including the Country 500 Music Festival, Bayou Country Superfest, Essence Festival, Lost Lands, Austin’s Pecan Street Festival, Austin City Limits Music Festival and SXSW. She has consulted on Louisiana culture for the Americana Music Triangle, as well as Go Gulf States. Rachel has also consulted for cultural culinary shows “Seasoned with Spirit” and “Tacos across Texas.” In 2016, she worked on the design and production of the recreation and art market areas for Festival Productions-AEG’s inaugural camping and music festival, Country 500 in Daytona Beach, Florida. She continued overseeing the recreation and art areas for five years. Rachel also served on the board of directors for the Crafts Guild of Louisiana A Fellow of the National Association of Latino Arts and Culture Leadership Institute, she led campaigns of social activism through art, working with the Latino art community by organizing collective Latino art exhibits in New Orleans. Continuing her passion for working in Latino arts, she serves as a grant reviewer for NALAC. In 2022 she was appointed to the State of Louisiana’s Folklife Commission, and most recently joined the Smithsonian’s Folklife Festival team in Washington D.C.