Mid-April is a special time in New Orleans. It's a time to enjoy great music, delicious food, cultural events and wacky competitions.
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| Jazz band entertains people on street. French Quarter Festival. New Orleans, Louisiana. |
| Photo © Barb & Ron Kroll |
As the largest free music festival in Louisiana, New Orleans French Quarter Festival is an excuse to "let the good times roll" in the historic heart of the city.
Street party
The French Quarter Festival began as an attempt to lure locals back to their beloved Vieux Carré. Back in 1984, people stopped going to the Quarter when street repairs and construction for the World's Fair made it difficult to get into shops and restaurants.
Mayor Morial took action. He asked musicians, street performers and food vendors to put up their shingles, and invited New Orleans residents to a giant street party. The event was so successful that it has been repeated every year.
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| French Quarter Festival T-shirt |
| Photo © Barb & Ron Kroll |
Free event
French Quarter Festivals, Inc. (FQFI) is a non-profit organization, which produces the French Quarter Festival, assisted by local business and community sponsors and more than 1,000 volunteers. It also produces two other free New Orleans festivals every year: Satchmo SummerFest in August and Christmas New Orleans Style in December.
Funds collected from a T.G.I.F. (Thank Goodness It's Festival) fundraising party, off-site special events, raffles, food, beverage and souvenir sales support the event and help maintain Jackson Square and other French Quarter attractions.
French Quarter Festival dates
New Orleans celebrates the French Quarter Festival on the second full weekend in April. When Easter falls on the second weekend, the festival is on the third weekend.
Upcoming dates for the French Quarter Festival are April 11-15, 2012 and April 10-14, 2013. It's advisable to book hotels in New Orleans early, because accommodations fill up quickly for the event.
Free Second-Line Shuttle buses offer transportation between the Convention Center parking lot and the French Quarter drop-off and pick-up stop, located on Canal Street and North Peters.
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| Musician plays trumpet. French Quarter Festival. New Orleans. |
| Photo © Barb & Ron Kroll |
Parade route
The French Quarter Festival opens on Thursday, with Locals Lagniappe Day. Bands and musicians perform on stages in the afternoon and early evening.
On Friday, the French Quarter Festival Parade starts at 10 am, with marching bands, horse-drawn carriages and antique firetrucks.
The parade route begins at the 100 block of Bourbon Street (at Iberville) and travels up Iberville to St. Ann, then turns left on St. Ann to Jackson Square, where it ends at about 11 am.
On Friday and Saturday, the Second Line Parade route runs from Jackson Square to Le Petit Theatre.
Musical performances
Three days of free musical performances by New Orleans and Louisiana musicians and bands follow the parade, with a few jazz renditions by international groups. Festival-goers can download a French Quarter Festival iPod, iPad and iPhone app to obtain music schedules and maps.
Music includes traditional and contemporary jazz, Cajun Zydeco, R & B, gospel singing, New Orleans funk, classical, folk, Latin, international, opera and even children's music.
How long are the performances? The length of the musical shows vary, but they average one to two hours long.
Stage locations in French Quarter
You'll find more than 260 musical performances on 18 stages in the New Orleans French Quarter, at Jackson Square, Woldenberg Park, Preservation Hall, the Louisiana State Museum Old U.S. Mint, Peter Street, Royal Street and the riverfront. Bourbon Street has several stages between the 200 block and the 700 block.
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| Free music performance on open-air stage. French Quarter Festival. New Orleans, Louisiana. |
| Photo © Barb & Ron Kroll |
Strolling along Bourbon Street, we stopped to listen to jazz bands performing on open-air stages. On Royal Street, strains of an orchestra playing classical music alternated with toe-tapping Zydeco music. By the time we reached Jackson Square, we'd heard World music, brass bands and string quartets.
It's enough to make you want to get up and dance. Many people do just that, tapping their feet and swinging umbrellas in the air to the captivating rhythms. Dancing on Royal Street begins at dusk on Sunday evening.
You can take free second-line, foxtrot, swing and Charleston dance lessons daily at the Traditional Jazz Stage, located at French Market Place and Governor Nicholls.
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| Dancing with umbrellas in front of St. Louis Cathedral. Jackson Square. French Quarter Festival. New Orleans. |
| Photo © Barb & Ron Kroll |
At Woldenberg Riverfront Park, children skipped along the sidewalk to calliope tunes pouring from the Steamboat Natchez, docked at the Toulouse canopied wharf on the Mississippi River. Crowds clapped their hands to a rousing version of When the Saints Come Marching In.
Food stands
Music, of course, is just one ingredient that goes into the French Quarter Festival's tasty gumbo. On Thursday through Sunday, the largest jazz brunch in the world takes place at Jackson Square, the Old US Mint in the Louisiana State Museum and Woldenberg Riverfront Park.
More than 100 of the best restaurants in New Orleans set up food and drink stands. Menu items include shrimp remoulade, seafood crepes, jambalaya, alligator sausages, crawfish pies, Cajun meat pies, cheesecake with praline sauce and dozens of other delicious dishes.
French Quarter Festival food prices range from $2 to $8 a serving. Drinks include beer, wine, daiquiris, margaritas, Southern Comfort and the always-popular Bloody Mary and Hurricane from Pat O'Brien's Bar.
You can buy food and drinks with cash or tickets, purchased by credit card. French Quarter Festival Information and Ticket Booths sell tickets in multiples of $1.
New Orleans cooking
"We sell 400 pounds of crawfish tails and 120 gallons of crawfish étouffé," said a chef at one food stand. "I grill more than 2,000 pieces of barbecued chicken," added another cook. "The crowds eat up more than 5,000 of my crawfish pies," claimed a third vendor.
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| Crawfish |
| Photo © Barb & Ron Kroll |
Want to learn how to make New Orleans food specialties? The festival offers ample opportunities. We watched a cook pile ham, salami, provolone cheese and olive salad on split loaves of round Italian bread to make traditional muffulettas.
At other food stands, chefs made po-boy sandwiches of all varieties: Cajun roast beef, spicy andouille, blackened soft shell crab, barbeque shrimp, Creole hot sausage and Creole crawfish sausage. Yum!
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| Muffuletta |
| Photo © Barb & Ron Kroll |
A passerby looked at the delicious po-boys and rubbed his stomach. "Too full?" asked the cook. "That's okay. Go rest your stomach and come back later!"
People bring folding chairs and blankets and sit on lawns next to the General Jackson statue or the Mississippi, from where they can watch the riverboats as they eat and listen to music. Others prefer to stroll, as they munch their way through the French Quarter.
Special events
Outside Jackson Square, artists, tarot card readers and street performers do a roaring business. A Scottish mime, decked out in tartans, attracted a large crowd by flipping up his kilt whenever someone dropped a coin into his cup.
On a more cultural note, you can tour historic New Orleans houses, like Hermann Grima House (820 St. Louis) and Gallier House (1132 Royal). St. Louis Cathedral Concert Choir performs an annual spring concert. Free opera takes place at dusk in the Cabildo courtyard.
At the Pirates Alley Juried Art Show, more than 100 artists display original works on Pirates Alley, Pere Antoine Alley, Cabildo Alley and Royal Street. Artists sign French Quarter Festival posters, destined to become collectors' items.
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| Couple enjoy wine on wrought iron balcony. French Quarter Festival. New Orleans, Louisiana. |
| Photo © Barb & Ron Kroll |
Contests are among the most popular events at the French Quarter Festival. Rouses Crawfish Eating Contest is held at the Old US Mint in the Louisiana State Museum.
On Saturday evening, traditional jazz bands compete in the Battle of the Bands on Royal Street. On Sunday evening, the French Quarter Festival features Dancing Until Dusk on Royal Street, between St. Louis and Conti.
Kids' Stage
Of course, not all of the fun is for adults. The Audubon Aquarium Plaza is the location of the children's headquarters and the Kids' Performance Tent. The Kids' Stage is at the ferry landing.
Filled with clowns, balloons, puppet shows and pony rides, the children's headquarters has all kinds of hands-on activities for kids and family fun, from face painting to karate. Children paint wall murals, build sand castles, dress up in historical costumes and play with drums, marimbas and kazoos.
Kids and adults, alike, experience a twinge of sadness when the gala street party ends. But they cheer up quickly, knowing that the good times will roll again at next year's French Quarter Festival.
TRAVEL INFORMATION
French Quarter Festival: www.fqfi.org/frenchquarterfest
New Orleans Metropolitan Convention & Visitors Bureau: www.neworleanscvb.com
More things to see and do in New Orleans:
New Orleans Photography Guide
Real Cajun - Rustic Home Cooking from Donald Link's Louisiana