JAZZLAND: THE LIFE, DEATH & REBIRTH OF SIX FLAGS NEW ORLEANS
The Jazzland Project is an unprecedented documentary series and exhibition chronicling the complete story of Jazzland and Six Flags New Orleans—from the dream of building a major amusement park for New Orleans to its opening in 2000, transformation into Six Flags New Orleans, devastation by Hurricane Katrina, nearly two decades of abandonment, and eventual demolition. Told through rare archival photographs and footage, home movies, historical materials, and firsthand interviews with the people who dreamed it, built it, worked there and experienced it, the series goes beyond the haunting images of an abandoned amusement park to rediscover the people, memories and remarkable story of the place that existed before the gates closed forever.
The story also follows photographer and filmmaker Jason Lanier’s extraordinary effort to document and preserve the park during its final years. From creating art with photographers, models and other creatives to illuminating forgotten attractions with lights and fireworks, reclaiming areas swallowed by nature, enduring difficult living conditions and dangerous environments, and ultimately serving as the official and only photographer granted access to document the entire demolition from inside the park from start to finish, Jason created an extensive visual record of a place disappearing in real time. Along the way came one final, almost unbelievable chapter: the historic January 2025 blizzard that transformed the partially demolished park into a surreal landscape covered in snow.
The story culminates in a 2027 documentary series and exhibition in New Orleans, bringing the park back to life through photography, film, interviews, artifacts and the memories of those who were there. Images of construction will stand alongside demolition; crowded operating days alongside haunting years of abandonment; and the park as people remember it alongside the extraordinary art created during its final years. The Jazzland Project is ultimately not a story about an abandoned amusement park—it is a story about dreams, people, loss, transformation and memory, created to ensure that while the physical remains of Jazzland and Six Flags New Orleans may disappear, their story never will.
Before the rides, the music, and the crowds, Jazzland began as a dream—a bold vision to create an amusement park unlike any other, one that would capture the unmistakable culture, spirit, and rhythm of New Orleans. This chapter traces that dream from its earliest beginnings through the people who believed in it, the planning, design, land blessing, and massive construction effort that transformed an empty stretch of New Orleans East into a colorful celebration of Louisiana. Through rare photographs, archival footage, original plans, and firsthand stories from those who helped make it happen, we witness something extraordinary taking shape: a place built not simply to entertain, but to feel uniquely New Orleans.
After years of dreaming, planning, and construction, Jazzland finally opened its gates and the vision became real. The rides began to move, music filled the midway, and families poured into a park designed to celebrate the unmistakable character of New Orleans and Louisiana. This chapter brings Jazzland back to life through archival photographs, home videos, news footage, advertisements, and the memories of the people who experienced it all. From the excitement of opening day to the rides, food, entertainment, characters, and everyday moments that defined a visit, we experience the park not as an abandoned place or a memory of what was lost, but as it was meant to be seen, alive, colorful, crowded, and filled with possibility.
On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina changed New Orleans—and the story of the park—forever. As floodwaters poured into Six Flags New Orleans, much of the property was submerged beneath several feet of water, leaving rides, buildings, games, and memories trapped in a disaster that would devastate an entire region. What had closed at the end of a normal summer weekend would never reopen. This chapter chronicles the storm, the flooding, and the immediate aftermath through powerful images, archival footage, news coverage, and firsthand accounts from those who witnessed the destruction. In a matter of hours, a place built around laughter, music, and escape fell silent—and without anyone realizing it at the time, the final song had already played.
When the floodwaters finally receded, they revealed an amusement park forever changed. Six Flags New Orleans remained standing, but the crowds were gone, the rides were silent, and nature slowly began reclaiming what had once been filled with life. Days became months, months became years, and despite countless proposals and promises of redevelopment, the gates never reopened. This chapter explores the park’s long descent into abandonment, through the failed attempts to determine its future, and the decay that transformed it into one of America’s most haunting abandoned places. Yet beneath the rust, overgrowth, and destruction, pieces of Jazzland remained, quietly preserving the memories of a place New Orleans had seemingly left behind.
BRINGING JAZZLAND BACK TO LIFE — Art, Creatives, Lights & Fireworks
After nearly two decades of darkness, Jazzland and Six Flags New Orleans came alive again in ways no one could have imagined. Through photography, models, artists, dramatic lighting and fireworks, the abandoned park became a canvas for creativity—illuminating forgotten rides, streets and structures without erasing the scars of time. For a few extraordinary moments, music, color, light and people returned to a place that had been silent for years, creating new memories while honoring the thousands of memories already made there. See what it’s like to singlehandedly bring a dormant and sleeping amusement park BACK TO LIFE!
RECLAIMING JAZZLAND — Taking Back the Park
After nearly two decades of abandonment, nature had consumed much of Jazzland and Six Flags New Orleans. Trees, vines and dense vegetation swallowed pathways, buildings and attractions, making entire sections of the park nearly inaccessible. Armed with chainsaws, tools and determination, we fought through extreme heat, dangerous terrain, snakes, alligators and other wildlife to reclaim access to the park one area at a time. This chapter documents the physical battle against nature—and the race to uncover, photograph and preserve what remained before demolition erased it forever.
THE SACRIFICE — What It Took to Document a Disappearing Place
Preserving the story of Jazzland and Six Flags New Orleans came at a cost few people will ever see. Behind the photographs and footage were months of difficult living conditions, brutal heat, exhaustion, isolation, dangerous wildlife, lost and damaged equipment, financial sacrifice, and countless hours spent documenting a place that was disappearing faster every day. This chapter goes behind the images to reveal what it truly took to capture the park before it was gone—the risks, setbacks, determination and personal sacrifices required to make sure that when the physical park disappeared, its story would not disappear with it.
After nearly two decades of uncertainty, the end of Jazzland and Six Flags New Orleans finally arrived. As the official and only photographer granted access to document the entire demolition from inside the park, from start to finish, Jason Lanier captured an unprecedented visual record of its final chapter. Heavy machinery moved across the property as buildings fell, rides disappeared, and familiar landmarks vanished one by one. Working alongside the demolition process, Jason documented both the immense scale of the transformation and the deeply emotional moments of watching decades of history disappear, creating a comprehensive photographic and cinematic archive so that even after the physical park was gone, its final moments would be preserved forever.
Just as Jazzland and Six Flags New Orleans was disappearing, the seemingly impossible happened. In January 2025, a historic blizzard blanketed the partially demolished park in snow, transforming rusted rides, shattered structures and demolition debris into a surreal winter landscape. For a place forever associated with hurricanes, flooding, heat and abandonment, the sight of Jazzland buried beneath snow felt almost otherworldly—as if time had stopped one final time. When Hell Freezes Over captures this extraordinary moment of beauty amid destruction, preserving a breathtaking transformation the park had never experienced before and would never experience again.
The buildings may fall and the rides may disappear, but the story of Jazzland and Six Flags New Orleans does not have to disappear with them. The Memory Lives On brings together decades of photographs, home movies, archival footage, historical documents, artifacts and firsthand interviews with the people who dreamed it, built it, worked there and experienced it as guests. Combined with Jason Lanier’s extensive documentation of the park’s final years, these pieces create a lasting historical record of what this place was and what it meant to so many people. Through the documentary series, archive and 2027 exhibition, the final chapter is not about saying goodbye—it is about ensuring that future generations can experience, understand and remember Jazzland and Six Flags New Orleans long after the physical park is gone.
Step into the haunting beauty and rich history of Six Flags New Orleans, formerly known as Jazzland, through the lens of renowned photographer and urban explorer Jason Lanier. A true passion project over a decade in the making, this body of work captures the eerie stillness and haunting remnants of a once-vibrant amusement park left abandoned in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
Jason began photographing the park more than twelve years ago, drawn to its post-apocalyptic atmosphere and symbolic power. His early exploration work gained widespread notoriety, ultimately leading to his appointment as the official archival photographer for the property in 2023. With unprecedented access granted by the park’s stakeholders, Jason was free to creatively document the park in its final form, before redevelopment and demolition took hold.
From sweeping drone vistas to 360-degree walkthroughs, stylized model fashion shoots, long-exposure night sessions, and raw action footage, Jason left no creative tool behind. In September 2024, he began covering the demolition full-time, continuing until work halted in April 2025.
This era also witnessed a truly historic event, the unprecedented blizzard of January 2025 that blanketed New Orleans, including Six Flags Jazzland, with nearly a foot of snow. It was the heaviest snowfall the region had seen in over two centuries, transforming the long-abandoned amusement park into a surreal winter wonderland. For a fleeting moment, the familiar decay of Jazzland was softened by snow, offering a hauntingly beautiful scene never before witnessed in its storied history.
Jason also undertook a deeply personal restoration effort, a solo mission to reclaim the park’s long-forgotten lakefront. Over the course of several grueling months, he single-handedly cleared and landscaped the entire shoreline, battling through overgrowth and braving waters teeming with alligators and snakes. It was an act of pure dedication, driven not by obligation, but by love. His goal was simple yet profound: to open up the view one last time and let the heart of the park shine before it was gone forever.
Though the project often demanded time, energy, and expense with no commercial backing, Jason committed himself fully, calling it the passion project of his life and career.
He was joined throughout by his close friend and fellow photographer Adam Santino, who not only assisted with shoots but also helped bring the magic of the park back to life, if only for fleeting moments, by lighting fireworks and pushing the limits of creativity within the ruins. One of the final acts in the park was to light up the, “Big Easy” Ferris Wheel one last time. This was truly a special moment for Jason, Adam, and the team complemented with a fireworks show for the ages.
Jason is beyond grateful to all of the creatives who came to collaborate with him during that once in a lifetime period at the park which was a creative utopia.
During his journey, Jason collaborated with Bayou Phoenix and Elvin Ross of E. Ross Studios Jazzland, sharing select photos and videos to help preserve the legacy and transformation of this iconic space. What began as an exploration ended in a visual time capsule, one that will soon be shared with the world through a feature documentary, behind-the-scenes video series, and an extensive collection of images that will resonate with both photography enthusiasts and the people of New Orleans.
Email: jason@jasonlanier.com