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The French Quarter Festival came into existence in1984 as a way to bring people back into the French Quarter following the World’s Fair and extensive sidewalk repairs in the French Quarter. This year it will be happening from April 10 to April 13, 2025.
More than 1,500 community volunteers help to make the festival a success. Attendance is free and donations will be accepted.
Participating Artists
Over 22 stages will be placed throughout the French Quarter. They will feature local music and will represent every genre, including jazz both traditional and contemporary, R&B, New Orleans funk, gospel, folk, brass bands, Latin, Zydeco, classical, cabaret and international.
Some of the artists performing at the festival include
- The Dirty Dozen Brass Band
- Chapel Hart Band
- The Zydeco Twisters
- Original Pinettes Brass Band
- Charmaine Neville
- Delleayo Marsalis The Uptown Jazz Orchestra
- Wendell Brunious
- Indy’s Blu
- The Soul Rebels
- Jelly Joseph
- Big Freedie
- Defeayo Marsalis & The Uptown Jazz Orchestra
- Irma Thomas, Soul Queen of New Orleans
- Chapel Hart Band
- Cupid & The Dance Party Express Band
- Lise Amos
- Honey Island Swamp
- Christian Serpas
and many, many more.
Participating New Orleans Restaurants
New Orleans is renowned for its great restaurants. Many of these excellent restaurants will be offering local dishes and beverages:
- Baroness On Baronne
- 9 Roses
- Lizzy’s Catering
- Broussard’s Restaurant & Courtyard
- Crabby Jack’s
- Creole Country Cork
- Mrs. Wheat’s Meat Pies
- Landry’s Seafood House
- Jacques Imo’s Cafe
- Paco’s Tacos
- Patton’s Caterers
- Plum St. Snowballs
- Quentin’s Natural Ice & Sorbet
- Nori’s Guys
- Dickie Brennan & Co.
- Tujague’s Restaurant
- Vaucresson Sausage Co.
- Afrodisiac Nola
- Bao Mi
- Lasyone’s Meat Pies Restaurant
- New Orleans School of Cooking
- Ms. Linda The Yakamein Lady
- My Momma’s House of Cornbread, Chicken & Waffles
- Red Fish Grill
- Southerns
- The Bower
- Cafe Dauphine
- Theaudric Real Clever Cuisine
- Fritai
- WWOZ Mango Freez
- Monday
- Goodfellas Seafood & Po Boys
- Loretta’s Pralines
- Love at First bite
- Morrow’s
- Pho Bang
- Rib Room
- 14 Parishes Jamaican Restaurant
- Sun Chong
- The Original New Orleans Po Boy
- Restaurant Revolution
- Morrow’s Steal
- Walker Southern Style BBQ
- TJ Gourmet Desire Oyster Bar
- Fatty’s Cracklin
- Etalian Happy Ice
- Cocoa & Cream Catering Ojan Cajan
- NOLA Crawfish King X La Fish Fry
- Cafe Beignet
- Ditto’s Dit Dat
- Smoke & Honey
There will be a Culinary Stage and notable local chefs will be giving cooking demonstrations there throughout the festival.
Special Events
The French Quarter Festival has many special events for attendees including
- French Quarter Festival Kickoff Parade
- Annual Opening Day Ceremony
- Dance Lessons & Performances in 1920s Charleston, Traditional Jazz, Swing Dance, Cajun Jitterbug, and Zydeco
- The Chevron Children’s Stem Zone
- French Quarter Festival After Dark is a series of performances and pop-up events to keep the good times rolling.
- St. Louis Cathedral Choir and Orchestra Spring Concert
- Baldwin & Co. Bookstores Behind The Music Chat
- Congo Square to the World: The Early Years of New Orleans Jazz
As you can see, this is one not to be missed festival for anyone who loves music, fine cuisine and New Orleans!
Cajun & Creole Cooking
If you enjoyed the food at the French Quarter Festival and want to learn more about Cajun and Creole cooking, try these cookbooks. You can use our links to see how you can save money on each book.
- Cooking for the Culture: Recipes & Stories from the New Orleans Streets by Toya Boudy
- The Best of New Orleans Cookbooks: 50 Classic Cajun and Creole Recipes from the Big Easy by Ryan Boudreaux
- The New Orleans Cookbook by Rima Collin and Richard Collin
Hotels
If you’re coming to New Orleans for the French Quarter Festival, you should consider these hotels that are offering discounted rates.
Flights
If you’re going to be flying into New Orleans, you can use a promo code to save money on your flight here.