1. Rock Out With Your Mask Out At Voodoo Fest
If you dig music and Halloween, then Voodoo Fest will feel like a world that was created just for you. This annual event fuses funky electronic music with the spooky side of America’s most haunted city. The 2015 featured band lineup includes big names like Florence + The Machine, Zac Brown Band, Ozzy Osbourne, Skrillex, Tom Morello and Slash, Jane’s Addiction, and Deadmau5.
Rock out with the rest of the costume, music lovers from
NOLA and beyond, stuffing yourself silly from the various vendors for this three day event which will make Halloween your new favorite holiday if it wasn’t already.
2. Ring In Spring With The French Quarter Festival
For the rest of the country, spring usually signals the end of summer and a much-welcomed explosion of flowers and color. New Orleans has their own way of doing things, though, and in this city, spring means it’s time for the French Quarter Festival.
The city’s oldest neighborhood transforms into a four-day music bash with the best musicians from around the area across over 20 stages. And the best part? Admission is completely free.
3. Paint The Town Green On St. Patrick’s Day
St. Paddy’s Day is a pretty big party day around the country. But no one knows how to party the way the people in New Orleans know how to party, and everyone’s favorite day to pretend to be Irish is no exception.
The annual parade rolls down Magazine Street and St. Charles Avenue where riders throw green beads and doubloons your way. You might even catch a potato or a head of cabbage if you’re ready. Parasol’s Bar in the Irish Channel has become the hub of festivities in this Irish-rich community where you’re sure to feel lucky to be.
4. Put Yourself In The Firing Line Of Tomatoes
Visitors of French Market Creole Tomato Festival don’t mind getting their faces dirty. That’s because they get to dive, literally, head-first into a smorgasbord of locally-grown tomatoes.
Local chefs put on food demos and the best restaurants around town will feed you their famous NOLA dishes while you shop through the farmer’s stands for local produce amidst 16 local bands across two stages.
5. If The Blues Don’t Cheer You Up, The Barbeque Will
All the best barbecue of New Orleans in one place for three days? No wonder the Crescent City Blues & BBQ Festival is so popular.
Showcasing why you don’t need to visit the Midwest to fall head-over-heels for smoked meats, this October event in Lafayette Square Park features much more than just taste bud-pleasing goodness. There is also a variety of local bands playing live music across two stages as well as a huge arts market to peruse.
6. Get Ready For Gumbo At The Treme Creole Gumbo Festival
There are so many festivities around New Orleans year-long, many of them begin to blend into each other. Featuring such rich culture, big music, and amazing foods, it’s sometimes hard to tell where one ends and the next begins. But the Treme Creole Gumbo Festival has a way of featuring the best part of the city without feeling like the same old thing.
With free admission, you’ll find some of the best dishes in the city as well as fun takes on entertainment like the vegan gumbo competition and a brass brand rivaling the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra.
7. Eat, Drink, And Be Merry
You might think you know all of the tastes of New Orleans. But you don’t really know until you’ve taste-tested your way through every inch of the New Orleans Wine & Food Experience. You’ll find wine-makers from all over the world as well as decadent dishes from the biggest names in the industry.
Friday and Saturday feature the big event of the Grand Tasting where you’ll fine over 1,000 wines to sip from while you eat from the plates of over 75 award-winning chefs. Wear stretchy pants.
8. Where Words Jump Off The Pages
Writers and book-lovers can escape into a literary world of their own at the Tennessee Williams New Orleans Literary Festival. Every March, this event brings out bibliophiles from around the world together to celebrate their love for the written word during the time of year when the azaleas are in their fullest bloom. You might even find the likes of John Waters celebrating with you.
9. Make Way For The Essence Fest
African American culture comes alive in Louisiana more than ever in July during the Essence Fest. This three day event brings out some of the biggest names in the R&B industry like Mary J. Blige, Usher, Missy Elliot and Biz Markie as well as speakers like Steve Harvey.
10. Shell We Party?
What better way to bid summer adieu than by indulging with what
Louisiana does best? The Louisiana Seafood Festival has the tallest drinks, the freshest bands, the world’s best fans, and the most delicious seafood this side of the Gulf. Fried, steamed, gumbo-ed, or grilled, there’s something for everyone to tear into during this three day event.
11. Crash Joan Of Arc’s Birthday Party
Joan of Arc is known around the city as The Maid of New Orleans. And while the people here never need a reason to throw a killer parade, this one is significant because it kicks off Carnival Season, the time of year everyone counts down to.
The first week of January is when the rest of the country is coming down from their celebrations. But in NOLA, the party is just getting started and the face of that party is Joan of Arc.
12. Believe The Mardi Gras Hype
You didn’t really think a list of New Orleans events wouldn’t feature Mardi Gras on it, did you? No, it’s not exactly a secret. It might even seem a little cliché. But if you’ve ever been to Mardi Gras, then you understand.
And if you’ve never been to Mardi Gras, then you need to get here and discover what you’ve been missing out on all along. Once you’re loaded with beads, there will be no mistaking why it’s a widely known fact that the people in New Orleans take life to eleven.
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