Hurricane Katrina Originally scheduled for Halloween Weekend in New Orleans’ City Park, the Voodoo Music Experience was displaced by the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina. While plans were in full swing to move forward with a relocation to Memphis, Voodoo founder Stephen Rehage met with community leaders in New Orleans about the opportunity to move the event back home for one of its two days—as a tribute event for relief workers. Festival organizers and Memphis representatives alike agreed this was an amazing opportunity to increase the scope of the event. New Orleans event On October 29, 2005, an invitation-only celebration (previous ticket holders exempt) for police, firefighters, National Guard, military and countless others who had aided in the recovery efforts of the city was staged at the Riverview "Butterfly" section of Audubon Park in New Orleans, one of the few public spaces in the city not damaged in the recent Federal levee failure disaster . Nine Inch Nails, Queens of the Stone Age, The Secret Machines, the New York Dolls, and Kermit Ruffins were among the artists who all came together in celebration of a city they love. It marked the first major multi-musical performance in the two months since Hurricane Katrina’s effects were felt in the city. Memphis event Voodoo in Memphis included a fundraiser for victims of the Hurricane Katrina disaster in AutoZone Park. 2006–2015 The 2006 Voodoo Music Experience saw the debut of three distinct areas on six distinct stages within the festivals landscape: Le Ritual, Le Flambeau and Le Carnival. Each of these areas was designed to uniquely showcase different sides of the personality of the festival and its New Orleans home: "Le Flambeau" features music and sounds consistent with the style of The Big Easy; "Le Ritual" features more mainstream music; and finally "Le Carnival" features indie bands, burlesque and circus acts. In 2007, Voodoo expanded to three days and broke all previous attendance records with an estimated 100,000+ fans in attendance. In April 2013, the Voodoo Music + Arts Experience announced an initial 15 acts to commemorate the 15th anniversary of Voodoo. The initial 15 acts include Pearl Jam, Nine Inch Nails, Calvin Harris, Bassnectar, Paramore, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Afrojack, Boys Noize, The Gaslight Anthem, Big Gigantic, How To Destroy Angels, Cults, Alkaline Trio, Desaparecidos and Robert DeLong. The 15th anniversary Voodoo celebration also marked the debut of City Park’s Festival Grounds, a new