Dat Mighty 9 at Lowell Folk Festival at Lowell Folk Festival (Downtown Lowell)

Dat Mighty 9 brings New Orleans Black Masking Carnival music to the Merrimack Valley as part of the 2026 Lowell Folk Festival, a free three-day celebration of music and culture held across downtown Lowell. Big Chief Romeo Bougere leads the eight-piece band, drawing on his deep roots in New Orleans funk, hip hop, and R&B, as well as the Mardi Gras Indian funk tradition established by groups like the Wild Magnolias. Bougere grew up immersed in the sounds of New Orleans, began masking at age four with his father and 9th Ward Hunters founder Rudy Bougere, and assumed leadership of the group at 17.