Jazz Fest
The largest music festival in the New Orleans calendar.
The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, commonly known as Jazz Fest, is the preeminent music festival of a city that is pretty well known for its music festivals. Held on the New Orleans Fair Grounds race Course, the event takes place on the last weekend of April and first weekend of May, occupying the local weather sweet spot that links spring to summer.
With that said, while ‘Fest’ is technically a two weekend affair, in practice it feels like a two-week extravaganza. In the weekdays that link Jazz Fest’s official dates, random gigs pop off around town with satisfying ubiquity. The atmosphere isn’t as mad cap as Mardi Gras; rather, it feels like our musical city is pumping out her sonic legacy on overdrive.
Many think Jazz Fest is an all jazz affair, but remember to read the full name of the festival. That ‘And Heritage’ caveat means Jazz Fest encompasses any music influenced by the city of New Orleans, which is almost all pop music from the 20th century on. A dozen music stages and tens encompass genres and acts ranging from gospel to Cajun to rock and pop.
Jazz Fest attracts a mix of New Orleans favorites and big name, stadium-sized headliners. A major part of the appeal are food tents, which feature a regular rotating sampling of some of the city’s finest cuisine. Even more than Mardi Gras, Jazz Fest has a crop of devoted repeat attendees; a sizable amount of visitors rent out homes on an annual basis for Fest, which has become something of a pilgrimage for a certain set of music aficionados.