In New Orleans, April is home to French Quarter Fest and the looming maelstrom of the Jazz & Heritage Festival, but it’s also Limb Loss Awareness Month. This year, the Touro Infirmary Foundation in conjunction with ATLAS (Amputees Together Learning and Supporting) is coordinating the first annual AMPed Fest, a music festival highlighting awareness, advocacy, innovations and resources centered around amputation. The festival will be held on Saturday, Apr. 21 from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. in the parking lot behind the Touro Outpatient Rehabilitation Center (1525 St. Charles Ave.).

The event will feature food trucks, local vendors, a special simulated obstacle course built by residents at LSU Health Sciences Center’s New Orleans School of Physical Therapy and, of course, live music. The lineup includes four exciting local artists: R&B soothsayer Phillip Manuel, jazz diva Anais St. John, trad jazz trumpet player  Doyle Cooper with the Red Hot Brass Band, and fellow trumpeter Terrell Batiste with his brand new eight-piece jazz project, ‘Dem Fellaz. Batiste, who used to play with the Hot 8 Brass Band before undergoing bilateral leg amputations, has an obvious connection to the festival. He started ‘Dem Fellaz exclusively to perform at AMPed Fest, so this may be the band’s only live performance. Set times have yet to be announced. Wanda Rouzan and Beaumont Hughes Band will also perform.

AMPed Fest is free and open to the public, but donations are strongly encouraged. All money raised will go towards two initiatives. First, the festival will sponsor sending local kids to the Paddy Rossbach Youth Camp, a traditional summer camp for 10-17-year-olds living with limb loss and limb difference. Next, it will sponsor adults to go to the Amputee Coalition National Conference this July in Tucson, AZ, where they can connect with other amputees and attend motivational sessions and educational seminars with expert panels.

To donate and find out more about AMPed Fest, visit Touro.com/AMPedFest.