2015's Spring Membership Drive runs from March 3-13. We know that while our members altruistically love the station, it doesn't hurt to get some sweet swag. For this drive, our gifts include our latest flag (left), some sweet 'OZ sunglasses, a fest-ready picnic blanket, and CD #42, the latest of our available-only-during-the-drive CDs.

Lower 9th Ward Village founder and WWOZ Community Advisory Board member Ward "Mack" McClendon passed away on February 14, 2015. Relatives and friends of the family are invited to attend his Home Going Celebration on Saturday, February 21, 2015 (tomorrow), 10:00 AM at Next Generation of Original Morning Star Baptist Church, 3536 St. Ferdinand St. NOLA Visitation will be held from 9:00 AM until the hour of service.

The eighth annual Congo Square New World Rhythms Festival happens Saturday, March 21 and Sunday, March 22, from 11a to 7:30p both days. The Festival celebrates the many traditions that trace back to Congo Square - including brass bands, Mardi Gras Indians and the music from Africa, the Caribbean and the Gulf South. The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation's Class Got Brass contest takes place Sunday.

Applications are now available for the 2015 edition of Class Got Brass, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation's contest to promote music education while supporting our cultural traditions. Louisiana high schools and middle schools are invited to create traditional New Orleans-style brass bands (as opposed to "marching bands") and to compete in a public performance on Sunday, March 22. Deadline to enter is March 9.

2015 is the year of the Mardi Gras Indian Queen in New Orleans, and WWOZ and the Mardi Gras Indian Hall of Fame are partnering to bring you a rare look inside this unique New Orleans Tradition, interviewing a different Mardi Gras Indian Queen every month. For February, we talk with Mercedes "Queen Mercy" Stevenson.

The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation supports community involvement in the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival presented by Shell by distributing thousands of free tickets. The Foundation’s Community Outreach Tickets program makes free Jazz Fest tickets available to those who otherwise could not afford to attend the festival. The tickets are distributed through social service organizations such as nonpfofit, educational, religious, government and community agencies - and they are for use only by clients of those organizations with financial hardships. Apply by March 9.