Louisiana’s New Orleans is a vivid and vibrant city full of nightlife, tasty cuisine and a combination of cultures. It has a great musical history and a melting pot of friendly and inviting locals. And when this isn’t enough to keep you busy, the city hosts a fantastic number of events, festivals and parades to keep you on your feet.
The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage festival celebrates the musical roots of the city, with twelve stages of jazzy tunes and occasional slices of funk, pop, blues and soul. Previous artists here have included names such as Fats Domino, Aretha Franklin, Miles Davis, Bob Dylan, Dizzy Gillespie, Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell and a whole lot more - if you’ve heard of them, they’ve been here. All of the essential American greats and genres are celebrated, along with servings of good food, good vibes, good times and good people. You can also expect arts, crafts and parades.
If you like munching and slurping, New Orleans offers way more than you can slip down your gullet. New Orleans Wine and Food Experience brings together food fans and top chefs to celebrate and promote a whole host of foody fun, with dozens of restaurants, loads of testing sessions, hundreds of wineries, lots of vintage tipples and plenty of meals, samples and morsels to get your fill. The event also features lashings of music and entertainment to keep you busy when you’re not chomping and chewing.
More gastronomic gusto is on show in the Oak Street Po-Boy Festival, which celebrates the tasty sensation of the eponymous bready treat. The moreish event features sandwiches stuffed with shrimp, oysters, catfish, ham, cheese, beef and more… if you can put it between bread, they’ll do it here. It’s a fun event and a great way to fill your mouth and fill your belly!
Tennessee Williams Literary Festival hosts many writers, authors, poets, playwrights and wordsmiths and offers panels, classes and performances. It’s a haven for fans of the written word, with ample servings of language and lingo. You can learn about the work of famous playwrights, watch performances of iconic plays and hear recitals and readings of unique and unusual material. And if you fancy yourself as a pensmith, you can enter one of the many competitions!