Buku music fest returns to NOLA with bigger lineup

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Hip-hop singer Big Freedia (FREE'-duh) and an entourage of booty-shaking "bounce" dancers are using a Mardi Gras float for a stage when the Buku music festival returns to New Orleans this weekend.

The two-day Buku Music + Art Project, a hip-hop and electronic dance music festival launched last year, is back and bigger, with about two dozen more acts and four stages instead of two.

The festival is being held Friday and Saturday at Mardi Gras World, a huge studio and warehouse on the bank of the Mississippi River where Carnival floats are made. The lineup is diverse with Scottish-born DJ Calvin Harris, Ohio rapper Kid Cudi, the British electronic music trio Nero, 1980s rap group Public Enemy and dozens of other acts.