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Essence Fest 2014
Essence Fest 2014
French Quarter Festival
French Quarter Festival
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Music Festivals


Music plays a leading role in New Orleans, the city that brought jazz into the world. And while traditional jazz is revered here, New Orleans is tuned into all kinds of music expression.The calendar is dotted with music celebrations both epic and homespun.These festivals act as a kind of melodious Johnny Apple Seed, spreading the Gospel of New Orleans music to visitors from around the country and the world. Spring’s Jazz and Heritage Festival (Jazz Fest) may be the best known, but hordes of soul, R&B and hip hop fans attend Essence over Fourth of July weekend and Voodoo Music + Arts Experience brings indie rock, punk and metal to City Park over Halloween weekend. Blues is on the menu at the Crescent City Blues & BBQ Fest, while all things Louis Armstrong is heralded during August’s Satchmo SummerFest. Locals love them all, but French Quarter Fest, a free huzzah to homegrown musical talent, is a New Orleans favorite. Here is a list:

Music Festivals Not to Miss


  • Under the Live Oaks at City Park thousands gather to worship the music at the Voodoo Music + Arts Experience every year over Halloween weekend. Like many New Orleans festivals, Voodoo started out...
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  • There is no better way to observe the nation’s freedom than the shake-the-rafters music celebration called Essence Festival. Held over Fourth of July weekend at the Caesars Superdome, this...
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  • Satchmo SummerFest began as a tribute to one of New Orleans’ most famous native sons, the late Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong, to celebrate his 100th birthday. Thousands of people turned out for the first...
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  • Every year in late May, there’s a party on the bayou when Bayou Boogaloo comes to the shore of Bayou St. John in the Mid-City neighborhood of the Crescent City.
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  • The legends of American music take the stage at the Ponderosa Stomp, an American roots music festival dedicated to recognizing the architects of rock-n-roll, blues, jazz, country, swamp pop, reggae...
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  • In a city well known for its music and its food, the Crescent City Blues & BBQ Festival combines the best of two specific genres. The free festival heats up the heart of New Orleans' Central Business...
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  • Come to Lafayette Square Wednesday evenings in spring for a taste of great New Orleans music from well-known artists known to liven up your spirits and get you into a dancing mood.
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  • Buku Music + Arts Project
    Buku Music + Art Project is one of New Orleans’ most thriving music festivals with a culture of its own. Taking its name from the French word “beaucoup”– meaning “plenty”– Buku Music + Art Project...
  • Cajun music and its hybrid offspring, Zydeco, is celebrated every year in June during the Louisiana Cajun-Zydeco Festival. This fabulous free fete is held on the grounds of the Old U.S. Mint on the...
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  • Central City Festival
    The Central City Festival highlights the cultural district centered around Oretha Haley Boulevard with live music, cooking demonstrations, arts and crafts, delicious cuisine, and even a health fair.
  • As the summer winds down in New Orleans, the NOLA Downtown Music and Arts Festival is an end-of-summer treat featuring musicians, pop-up shops, food trucks and more in the New Orleans Warehouse and...
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  • Freret Street Festival
    On the first Saturday in April, Freret Street comes alive with music, food, crafts and more during Freret Street Festival. The festival, which extends for six blocks between Napoleon Avenue andStreet,...
  • There’s always music in the air in New Orleans and Louis Armstrong Park is a wonderful place to enjoy it. Jazz in the Park is a series of free, outdoor musical performances with a different local band...
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  • Church choirs, gospel bands and other groups create a joyful noise every October at Praise Fest NOLA, a free outdoor celebration of Gospel music on the banks of Bayou St. John. The three-day free...
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  • In New Orleans, music is a powerful universal language that speaks to the soul. Each spring, the Sacred Music Festival focuses on the spirituality behind music. Held at the New Orleans Healing Center...
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  •   Wednesdays on the Point Summer Concert Series brings music, dancing and great food to the west bank of the Mississippi River in Algiers Point right where the Canal Street/Algiers Ferry docks.
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Music Festival Guides