First Day is a Doozy April 27, 1996 - The Times-Picayune By Rhonda Nabonne It was the biggest first day in New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival history, and not just because of the Phish fans, event promoters said Friday. Opening day at the 27th annual festival drew an estimated 62,500 people, compared with 45,000 for last year's first day, Anna Zimmerman said. "Phish had a particular effect on today," Zimmerman said. "There are a lot of young people out here." But the WWOZ Jazz Tent, with acts such as Kermit Ruffins and the Barbecue Swingers - who performed about the same time as Phish - was full, too, she said. "The crowd was evenly distributed, there was a lot of open grass and there were no (long) lines at the food booth," she said. "People came and went. It's been a pleasant afternoon." The first-day crowd estimate also tops last year's second Friday, which drew 60,000 people. This year's opener "shows a healthy growth for the festival," Zimmerman said. "It's a positive sign." The showers that drenched parts of the New Orleans area in the afternoon didn't hit the Fair Grounds until closing time, and festival crews covered low areas with plastic, Zimmerman said. Bales of straw, used to keep mud pools to a minimum, haven't been needed yet, she said. In the neighborhood surrounding the festival, residents said that on-street parking spaces were snapped up farther from the Fair Grounds than they can recall in the past. At the same time, residents said city tow truck operators responded promptly to calls for help. Festival-goers who opted to take a taxi rather than hunt for a parking space kept cab companies hopping. "We were very swamped," said David Young, a cashier and driver at United Cab Co. And Yellow-Checker Cabs was flooded with calls as the festival ended, with the rain showers complicating the flow of cabs, a dispatcher said. "We're extremely busy, and it'll be worse next weekend," she said. © 1996 The Times-Picayune