This Weekend in New Orleans, LA

Jackson Square

French Quarter

Jackson Square is the center of the French Quarter and it costs nothing. Street musicians, brass bands, tarot card readers, portrait artists, mimes (sorry), and the oldest cathedral in North America as a backdrop. St. Louis Cathedral is free to enter. The Cabildo and Presbytere flank it on either side if you want to pay for history. Come before 10am or after 4pm for breathing room.

Mardi Gras

Uptown / French Quarter / CBD

People think Mardi Gras is Bourbon Street. It's not. Mardi Gras is the parades — elaborate floats rolling through Uptown and the CBD for two weeks, with crews tossing beads, doubloons, and trinkets to crowds lining St. Charles Avenue. It's free to watch. The big krewes — Endymion, Bacchus, Rex, Zulu — are spectacles. Lundi Gras and Mardi Gras Day are the peaks. Bring a cooler, claim a spot on the neutral ground, and stay all day.

The Spotted Cat Music Club

Marigny

The Spotted Cat is the heart of Frenchmen Street. No cover, no pretension, just a tiny room packed with people dancing to live jazz, swing, and brass bands. The dance floor is maybe 15 feet wide and it's always full. Cash only. Go early or be ready to stand in the doorway. Live music starts at 2pm and runs until 2am.

Frenchmen Art Market

Marigny

Every night on Frenchmen Street, local artists set up an open-air market selling handmade jewelry, paintings, photography, leather goods, and crafts. Free to browse, and the prices are reasonable if you want to take something home. It's surrounded by live music from the clubs on either side. Skip the tourist shops in the Quarter and buy something real here instead.

Fritzel's European Jazz Pub

French Quarter

Look, Bourbon Street is mostly a mess. But Fritzel's is the exception — a small, dark jazz pub that's been doing live traditional jazz since the 1960s. No karaoke machines, no frozen daiquiris, just musicians who can play. If you find yourself on Bourbon and need to hear actual music, duck in here.

Royal Street Stroll

French Quarter

Royal Street is the French Quarter's answer to Bourbon Street — antique shops, art galleries, and street musicians instead of neon signs and frozen daiquiris. The street is closed to cars between 11am and 4pm, so you can walk right down the middle. Some of the best street musicians in the city set up here. Free to walk, free to listen, expensive to shop.

Royal Street Stroll

French Quarter

Royal Street is the French Quarter's answer to Bourbon Street — antique shops, art galleries, and street musicians instead of neon signs and frozen daiquiris. The street is closed to cars between 11am and 4pm, so you can walk right down the middle. Some of the best street musicians in the city set up here. Free to walk, free to listen, expensive to shop.

Jackson Square

French Quarter

Jackson Square is the center of the French Quarter and it costs nothing. Street musicians, brass bands, tarot card readers, portrait artists, mimes (sorry), and the oldest cathedral in North America as a backdrop. St. Louis Cathedral is free to enter. The Cabildo and Presbytere flank it on either side if you want to pay for history. Come before 10am or after 4pm for breathing room.

New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA)

Mid-City

NOMA sits inside City Park and houses a solid collection spanning 5,000 years. But the real move is the Besthoff Sculpture Garden outside — 11 acres of modern sculpture among live oaks and lagoons, completely free, seven days a week. Inside the museum, Louisiana residents get free admission every Wednesday. Youth under 19 always free.

Maple Leaf Bar

Uptown

The Maple Leaf is where uptown New Orleans goes to hear music. Rebirth Brass Band's Tuesday night residency has been running since 1991 and it's one of the most electric nights of live music in the country. George Porter Jr. holds down Mondays. The patio out back is a breather when the dance floor gets too intense. Funk, brass, and sweat.

New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival

Mid-City

Jazz Fest is two weekends in late April and early May at the Fair Grounds. 14 stages, 5,000+ musicians, and food tents that rival any restaurant in the city. Crawfish bread, cochon de lait po'boy, and soft-shell crab are the moves. Day tickets go on sale later; weekend passes start at $399. Locals Thursday offers discounted rates for Louisiana residents. It sells out. Plan ahead.

Frenchmen Street

Marigny

Frenchmen Street is where locals go to hear music. Three blocks in the Marigny packed with clubs, bars, and restaurants — most with live music and no cover. The Spotted Cat, d.b.a., Snug Harbor, Three Muses, the Maison, and more, all within stumbling distance. Walk the street, stick your head in every door, and follow the sound you like best. The art market sets up nightly too.

Tipitina's

Uptown

Tipitina's is where the city goes to hear music when it's not on Frenchmen. Named after a Professor Longhair tune, this Uptown institution has hosted everyone from the Neville Brothers to Galactic to Trombone Shorty. The sound is big, the crowd is local, and brass band nights will literally shake the floor under your feet. A New Orleans pilgrimage.

Preservation Hall

French Quarter

This is the temple. A tiny, sweaty room with wooden benches and no air conditioning where some of the best traditional jazz musicians in the world play 45-minute sets every night. No bar, no food, no frills. Just the music. 100 people per set, and it sells out. Buy tickets in advance or get in the standby line early.

Chickie Wah Wah

Mid-City

Chickie Wah Wah is a small, no-nonsense music club on Canal Street in Mid-City. The cover charge goes 100% to the artists. The room is intimate enough that you're practically onstage. Jazz, blues, funk, singer-songwriters — the booking is eclectic and the quality is consistent. Take the streetcar from the Quarter and get off at Canal and Broad.

Royal Street Stroll

French Quarter

Royal Street is the French Quarter's answer to Bourbon Street — antique shops, art galleries, and street musicians instead of neon signs and frozen daiquiris. The street is closed to cars between 11am and 4pm, so you can walk right down the middle. Some of the best street musicians in the city set up here. Free to walk, free to listen, expensive to shop.

Frenchmen Street

Marigny

Frenchmen Street is where locals go to hear music. Three blocks in the Marigny packed with clubs, bars, and restaurants — most with live music and no cover. The Spotted Cat, d.b.a., Snug Harbor, Three Muses, the Maison, and more, all within stumbling distance. Walk the street, stick your head in every door, and follow the sound you like best. The art market sets up nightly too.

Tipitina's

Uptown

Tipitina's is where the city goes to hear music when it's not on Frenchmen. Named after a Professor Longhair tune, this Uptown institution has hosted everyone from the Neville Brothers to Galactic to Trombone Shorty. The sound is big, the crowd is local, and brass band nights will literally shake the floor under your feet. A New Orleans pilgrimage.

Preservation Hall

French Quarter

This is the temple. A tiny, sweaty room with wooden benches and no air conditioning where some of the best traditional jazz musicians in the world play 45-minute sets every night. No bar, no food, no frills. Just the music. 100 people per set, and it sells out. Buy tickets in advance or get in the standby line early.

Chickie Wah Wah

Mid-City

Chickie Wah Wah is a small, no-nonsense music club on Canal Street in Mid-City. The cover charge goes 100% to the artists. The room is intimate enough that you're practically onstage. Jazz, blues, funk, singer-songwriters — the booking is eclectic and the quality is consistent. Take the streetcar from the Quarter and get off at Canal and Broad.

Royal Street Stroll

French Quarter

Royal Street is the French Quarter's answer to Bourbon Street — antique shops, art galleries, and street musicians instead of neon signs and frozen daiquiris. The street is closed to cars between 11am and 4pm, so you can walk right down the middle. Some of the best street musicians in the city set up here. Free to walk, free to listen, expensive to shop.