Van Morrison and Aretha Franklin are among the headliners of next year’s New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.

Joining them be Pearl Jam, Lionel Richie and actor Steve Martin, who is performing banjo with his bluegrass outfit the Steep Canyon Rangers.

Franklin was supposed to perform last year but has to drop out when asked to participate in an event for President Barack Obama.

Other acts making a return to the festival include the Allman Brothers Band, Widespread Panic, The Black Crowes and B.B. King

The festival’s producer, Quint Davis said:

“It’s just a way cool thing that Jazz Fest is so broad that it can embrace all these different things, all these different artists. We have jazz in the name, but it’s not just jazz music.”

It will be the 41st edition of the festival and will take place over the weekends of April 23rd-25th and April 29th-May 2nd, featuring acts from a variety of genres including pop, rock, gospel, R&B and jazz.

Although the major acts are from around the globe, the festival remains a local affair with more than 80 percent of the performing artists hailing from Louisiana including The Neville Brothers, Irma Thomas, Pete Fountain, Dr. John, rapper Juvenile and Trombone Shorty.

Next year’s festival will include a tribute to one of the genre’s founders, jazz singer, songwriter and trumpeter Louis Prima.

Davis paid tribute to him by saying:

“He’s so New Orleans. He was one of the first major voices in getting jazz and New Orleans to be dominant world powers in music. We have some very special things in the works to honor him.”

Tributes to Prima will take place every day with jazz singers Keely Smith and Louis Prima Jr. performing in his honour.

Tickets for the festival, which is held at the Fair Grounds Race Course, go on sale this Tuesday.

Besides music, the festival offers a host of food and craft booths, some that include the history and making of New Orleans pottery, jewelry, clothes and Mardi Gras.

For more information visit their website at www.nojazzfest.com