When most people think of the Big Easy, the first images that come to mind are likely parade floats, beads and purples, greens and golds as far as the eye can see. But while Mardi Gras is a huge part of the city’s culture that brings in a whopping one million tourists and $900 million in revenue to New Orleans every year, it has its downsides too. The crowds are insane — both in size and general demeanor — and if pushing your way through streets littered with empty Hand Grenade cups isn’t your cup of tea, it may not be the festival for you. But even if you’re looking to get rowdy with the rest of them, you still have to navigate heavy traffic and jacked-up prices on transportation and accommodations. (Good look finding a hotel room when 999,999 other people are also looking for a place to stay.)
Fortunately, there’s another spring festival in the city that offers a more authentic New Orleans experience without all the headaches of Mardi Gras. French Quarter Festival takes over its namesake neighborhood for four days every April, highlighting the best music, food and drink that New Orleans has to offer. The best part? Admission is free.
The festival first launched in 1984 with the mission to shine a light on the rich cultural and musical history of the area. Unlike Jazz Fest, which features national touring acts and legends like the Rolling Stones, French Quarter Festival is meant to celebrate local music. Every act on the bill is from Louisiana, and the majority of them fall into genres with deep roots in the area — zydeco, jazz, brass bands, Cajun and soul. The 2025 edition of the festival, which I attended, boasted roughly 1,700 local musicians in its lineup.
In addition to its music, New Orleans is, of course, known for its uniquely delicious cuisine, and this four-day celebration also functions as a one-stop-shop to sample all the local fare your heart desires. Over 70 local food vendors, including some of the city’s best-known restaurants, set up booths across the festival grounds. Whether you’re looking for gumbo, jambalaya, crawfish or a po’ boy, you’ll have plenty of options to choose from, all within walking distance of the performance stages — some of which also feature live cooking demos from New Orleans’s best chefs.
French Quarter Festival drew approximately 950,000 people over four days this year, but it still felt significantly more manageable than Mardi Gras. Many of those attendees were locals, and while it does draw in out-of-towners, it feels much less touristy. It’s the consummate celebration of the city’s vibrant heritage, and it happens to take place during the best time of year to visit — in the spring, before the brutal heat and swampy humidity of summer set in. Especially if you’ve never been to New Orleans before, it’s the perfect excuse to head down South and experience one of the most distinctive cities in America. Next year’s French Quarter Fest is slated to take place April 16-19, 2026, so you’ve got plenty of time to check out our tips below and plan your perfect weekend.
Where to Stay
Okay, hear me out on this one. Yes, the Nobu Hotel at Caesars New Orleans is technically inside a casino. But the hotel-within-a-hotel is peaceful, elegant and far enough removed from the video poker machines more than 10 floors below that you can get as much R&R as you need. Everything feels brand new, and it should — the hotel was part of the $435 million renovation of Caesars New Orleans Hotel & Casino, which replaced Harrah’s in 2024. Nobu Hotel’s 54 rooms take up two floors of Caesars Tower, and it features a soothing, Japanese-inspired aesthetic that manifests in wood, marble, earth tones and cherry blossoms. It sits on Canal Street in the city’s Central Business District, just steps from the Riverwalk where you can take in the mighty Mississippi, and a short walk to the French Quarter.
That location is key during French Quarter Fest. The hotel was incredibly close to the south end of the festivities at the Spanish Plaza, and it was less than a mile away from the rest of it in the French Quarter, as well as plenty of sights and attractions I wanted to squeeze into my trip. I didn’t take a single Uber the entire weekend; the area’s incredibly walkable, and with a hotel right in the middle of all the action, you’re going to want to get those steps in.
What to Do
You’re there for French Quarter Fest, so you’re probably going to want to spend the majority of your time…at French Quarter Fest. The festivities kick off with a traditional second line parade and feature New Orleans’s finest musicians — which is high praise in a city where there are buskers on every corner who are more talented than many professionals. I found it was best to walk around from stage to stage and explore rather than seeking out specific acts; that approach led me to a Dixieland band performing in the garden of a mansion from 1826, a high school marching band covering Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” on the dock in front of the iconic Steamboat Natchez, and Big Chief Juan Pardo, the chief of the Golden Comanche Mardi Indian Tribe, keeping the city’s Black Masking Indian tradition alive. But you’re not going to want to miss the legendary Irma Thomas, known as the Soul Queen of New Orleans, belt out her hits, including 1964’s “Time Is On My Side” and 1968’s “Anyone Who Knows What Love Is (Will Understand).” Thomas is a fixture at the festival, performing nearly every year, and there’s nothing like seeing her in front of her hometown crowd.
Inside One of the World’s Most Remote Music Festivals
The Faroe Islands’ G! Festival takes place in a village of 500 people, surrounded by stunning landscapesIf you do find some time to sneak away from the festival but don’t want to stray from the French Quarter, be sure to learn about the city’s witchy history at the New Orleans Historic Voodoo Museum. The museum is small — you can probably walk through the entire thing in 20 minutes — but it’s full of fascinating and spooky artifacts: voodoo dolls, magic mirrors, altars, tribal masks and even the occasional human skull. If you want to cast some spells of your own (or just take home a fun souvenir), Marie Laveau’s House of Voodoo sells all sorts of candles, gris gris bags, incense, trinkets and chicken feet. Even if the supernatural stuff creeps you out, you’re definitely going to want to devote some time to roaming Bourbon Street; there’s a reason it’s such a tourist destination. Take in a show at the legendary Preservation Hall, or if you’re a whiskey fan, take a tour of the Sazerac House and sample some of their rye. (You’ve gotta have a Sazerac in the city it originated in, right?)
Where to Eat and Drink
As I mentioned, French Quarter Fest features booths from some of the city’s most popular restaurants, so you don’t even have to leave the grounds to find local delicacies like yaka mein, fried alligator (it really does taste like chicken!) and Oysters Rockefeller. But, especially if it’s your first time in New Orleans, you need to venture over to Cafe du Monde for some beignets and a cafe au lait. The squares of fried dough coated in confectioner’s sugar are messy — you’ll be covered in powdered sugar after one bite — but well worth braving the long lines they attract. For another New Orleans sweet, head to Loretta’s Authentic Pralines. I don’t need to tell you what to order there.
If you’re trying to stay close to the festival and your hotel, Caesars Tower is also home to some great dining options, including upscale sushi at Nobu and more locally inspired offerings from celebrity chefs at Emeril’s Brasserie and Nina’s Creole Cottage. But if you want to venture further into the French Quarter for a little slice of history, head to Antoine’s. The French-Creole restaurant, which opened in the 1840s, is the oldest in New Orleans, and it’s the birthplace of iconic dishes like Oysters Rockefeller and Pommes de Terre Souffles. (Be sure to book a reservation in advance.)
Of course, it wouldn’t be a trip to New Orleans without something — well, many things — to drink. Take advantage of the open-container laws and grab a Purple Drank (also known as the Voodoo Daiquiri) at Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop Bar. Built between 1722 and 1732, it’s the oldest structure being used as a bar in all of America. (Even older than America itself by a few decades.) For something a little more refined, the Carousel Bar & Lounge inside the Hotel Monteleone is designed like a carousel, and it’s the city’s only operational rotating bar. (Don’t worry, you won’t get dizzy; it only rotates once every 15 minutes.) And sure, it may be touristy, but you can’t leave the Big Easy without a traditional Hurricane at Pat O’Brien’s, the birthplace of New Orleans’s most famous cocktail.
More Like This
This article was featured in the InsideHook newsletter. Sign up now.
