Bon Jovi at Jazz Fest Again?

New Orleans Jazz Fest 2011 to feature Arcade Fire, Bon Jovi, Kid Rock, Wilco and many more

The New Orleans Jazz Festival 2011 welcomes Arcade Fire, Bon Jovi, Kid Rock, Jimmy Buffett, John Mellencamp, Wilco, Willie Nelson, The Strokes, Robert Plant, Lauryn Hill, Tom Jones, Jeff Beck, Sonny Rollins, Kenny G and John Legend & The Roots to the Fair Grounds in 2011.

The wide-ranging roster of "visiting" artists - those not from Louisiana - seems designed to position Jazz Fest to compete more directly with the likes of the Austin City Limits Festival, Coachella, Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza, even as it builds on a foundation of local music, food and crafts.

The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival presented by Shell is April 29 through May 8.

Ticket prices are unchanged from 2010. A first-weekend discount package of three day-specific tickets is $120 plus service charges; a second-weekend package of four tickets is $160.

Advance single-day tickets, specific to each weekend, are $45 plus service charges. Tickets at the gate are $60. Tickets for children age 2 to 10 are $5, available at the gate only.

Louisiana representatives include Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews, Irma Thomas, Galactic, Dr. John, Pete Fountain, Terence Blanchard, Deacon John, Jeremy Davenport, the Neville Brothers, a reunion of Los Hombres Calientes featuring Irvin Mayfield and Bill Summers, and the Radiators, who are slated to disband this summer.

The 42nd annual Jazz Fest will be the seventh since Quint Davis' Festival Productions Inc.-New Orleans partnered with AEG Live, the concert division of the international entertainment conglomerate.

AEG co-produces and/or created several major festivals. The company oversees the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and the country-centric Stagecoach festival in southern California. AEG has submitted a bid to co-produce the Chicago Blues Festival. The company also created the Bayou Country Superfest in Baton Rouge with Festival Productions.

At least four acts coming to Jazz Fest for the first time - Arcade Fire, the Strokes, Lauryn Hill and Mumford & Sons - are also headed to Coachella in mid-April.

Due in part to AEG's deep pockets and music industry clout, artists whose tours typically bypass New Orleans are finding their way to the city via Jazz Fest.

John Mellencamp, appearing on the festival's first Sunday, has not performed in New Orleans for at least 15 years.

Bon Jovi was absent from the Big Easy for more than a decade prior to headlining the Acura Stage in 2009. Jon Bon Jovi and company return this year on the festival's first Saturday.

You will find the rest of the article and the schedule of appearances here.

I know nothing is absolute until we see it/hear from on high at BonJovi.com, but I know of at least one Fictionista who would be beside herself if this is for real.