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Welcome to New Orleans Events!New Orleans hosts a number of annual events that are done up in a way that only this city could do them up. Christmas time in New Orleans is wonderful, complete with concerts, riverboat cruises, candlelight tours of historic landmarks, caroling ceremonies in Jackson Square, and more. When it comes to bringing in the New Year, New Orleans runs a close second to New York. The Birthplace of Jazz really jazzes things up with the annual French Quarter Festival. And it goes without saying that New Orleans most noted event, the Mardi Gras, is the Grande Dame of the city's festivals. Streets are filled with people in gaudy costumes, lively jazz music, colossal parades, and the like. For a city rich in events that does them up in a grand way, it is hard to top New Orleans. Winter Christmas New Orleans Style New Year's
Eve Nokia Sugar Bowl
Classic
Bayou Classic Crescent City Classic French Quarter Festival HP Classic
New Orleans Jazz
& Heritage Festival (Jazz Fest) Summer Essence Fest New Orleans Wine
and Food Experience Fall Southern Decadence |
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Christmas
is not quite a white one in New Orleans, but it decorates the city with
color, imagination, and nontraditional celebrating. The month of December
brings bonfires on Christmas Eve, festive concerts, riverboat cruises,
candlelight tours of historic landmarks, caroling ceremonies in Jackson
Square, tales of "Papa Noël" and his alligator sleigh,
Reveillon meals (a tradition adapted from an old Creole custom) at area
restaurants, lowered hotel prices citywide, and the Holiday Wine Tasting.
Christmas New Orleans Style fills the city with glee as the community
dresses itself with radiant lights and spreads glad tidings to all those
who celebrate the holiday season the Big Easy way. 
New
York is not the only city that knows how to bring in the new year. Like
all of its other events, the countdown to the new year in New Orleans
is a huge, crowd-snatching event. The city's streets bulge with
party-goers who stand with eyes fixed on a well-lit ball as it plummets
from the top of the 4,000-square-foot Jackson Brewery in Jackson Square.
This New Year's Eve bash, held every Dec. 31, is considered one
of America's largest and most consistent events. 
The
spirit of the New Orleans community strengthens every January, when amateur
athletes convene in the Big Easy for a sweet chance at victory. The Nokia
Sugar Bowl Classic draws thousands of screaming fans of college football
teams who vie for a championship title. Although the football game is
the main attraction of the Sugar Bowl, it also hosts basketball, tennis,
sailing, swimming, and other competitions. The annual event is usually
held in January at the Louisiana Superdome. It has entertained the public
since 1934.
Lace
up your sneakers and join more than 30,000 runners that trot through the
streets of New Orleans during the annual Crescent City Classic. The 10,000-meter
road race draws contestants from all parts of the globe. It starts at
historic Jackson Square, snakes through the financial district, and culminates
at City Park. The nonprofit Crescent City Fitness Foundation hosts the
event, which usually occurs during the spring. The event, which has existed
since 1979, ends with a big bash in honor of the racers and their families.
To enter, call (504) 861-8686. 
High
steppers march with authority down Bourbon Street to crisp-sounding jazz
and rhythm and blues tunes that attract people from all corners of America
and beyond. A stretched parade with jazz pizzazz and funk is one of the
lures of the annual French Quarter Festival. It invites music lovers -
but primarily jazz enthusiasts - to do a jig in the streets, dig
into the roots of jazz, and peruse the district's historic homes.
Eating is another plus to attending this free street festival, because
the restaurants go beyond the city's curbs to entice event spectators
with their mouthwatering foods. The three-day French Quarter Festival
usually kicks off the second week of every April. 
America's
top golfers tee off in support of children at the annual HP Classic, a
fund-raiser previously known as the Compaq Classic of New Orleans. PGA
Tour professionals, such as David Toms and Victor K.J. Choi, have each
walked away with a victory and a game trophy. Event proceeds support the
Fore!Kids Foundation - a 501c3 organization that has raised millions
of dollars to help area youth activities and programs. The four-day event
usually takes place at the English Turn Golf & Country Club during
the spring. Ticket prices vary. Call the Fore!Kids Foundation at (504)
831-4653 for more event information.
Gaudy
costumes, festive and jazz music, massive parades, street entertainers,
and herds of party-goers makeup this annual carnival. Mardi Gras is a
longtime tradition that gets underway on Fat Tuesday, before Ash Wednesday
(the beginning of Lent for Catholics). The elaborate street party's
origin dates back to the early 1700s, when it was just a day parade that
rolled through Mobile - the capital of Louisiana's French
territory. Mardi Gras, nowadays, has inflated into much more than that;
it's a state holiday that last for days and takes merrymaking into
the wee hours. 
Earth,
Wind & Fire, Jimmy Buffet, Lenny Kravitz, the Neville brothers, and
the Marsalis brothers (including Delfeayo and Ellis) are just some of
the big-name acts that have entertained the crowds at the annual New Orleans
Jazz & Heritage Festival - the city's second-biggest event,
next to Mardi Gras. Jazz Fest, usually held from the last weekend of April
through the first weekend of May, is a smorgasbord of easy-listening music:
from Dixieland jazz to gospel and the swinging '40s-style of tunes. Addictive
African-, Caribbean-, and South American-style beats thump from Congo
Square, giving the event an international flair. Community jam sessions,
evening and day concerts, and a Heritage Fair with food, souvenirs, and
crafts draw thousands to this spring fling. 
People
of color pack the Big Easy every July for a weekend of comedy, music,
and social and cultural empowerment. The annual Essence Fest is considered
the biggest entertainment venue in the national African-American community.
Grammy award-winning performer Alicia Keys, comedians Cedric the Entertainer
and Steve Harvey, and sultry R&B singer Mary J. Blige are among those
who have taken center stage at the Louisiana Superdome to entertain festival
guests. With arts and crafts and uplifting religious- and cultural-oriented
seminars on the menu, this event is more than just an entertainment spectacle.
Guests increase their knowledge about art and strengthen their community
bond.
Many
American cities offer their residents and visitors an opportunity to sample
the fine cuisines of restaurants in their areas through annual taste-testing
soirees. In New Orleans, the experience is more than just a culinary feast;
it is a multicultural phenomenon seasoned with food, wine, art, antiques,
and tradition. The five-day New Orleans Wine and Food Experience offers
such pleasures every year, usually in May. The city's finest chefs and
vintners from around the world gather to showcase the best recipes and
wines at the event. Educational seminars also are included on the event's
itinerary.
"Queens"
take their places, at the center of activity, at the annual Southern Decadence
- a weekend street party for gays, lesbians, transsexuals, and any
others from the worldwide alternative lifestyle community. Events -
including a Bourbon Street parade, parties, and pageants - jumpstart
the Wednesday before Labor Day. The bizarre event, more than 30 years
old, attracts 100,000-plus guests.