The New Orleans festival calendar doesn't really have an off-season. It has a busy stretch from late winter through early May and a sweaty stretch after that, with a fall comeback once the heat breaks. The 2027 dates that are locked in so far: Mardi Gras on February 9, French Quarter Fest April 8 to 11, Jazz Fest across two weekends from April 22 to May 2, and Satchmo SummerFest July 31 to August 1.
Every other list of New Orleans festivals is about forty items long and treats a beer tasting in a hotel ballroom the same as Carnival. This isn't that. This is the calendar we'd hand a friend who asked us, across the counter on Magazine Street, "When should I come, and what's actually worth it?"
January: Carnival Wakes Up
Carnival season starts on January 6, Twelfth Night, and king cake starts showing up the same week. The early weeks are the best-kept secret of the season, when the parades are smaller and the city is still stretching before a long run.
Eat king cake. Have opinions about king cake. We even wrote about Larry Ragusa's, the greatest fake bakery in New Orleans history.
February: Mardi Gras
Mardi Gras 2027 falls on Tuesday, February 9, according to MardiGrasNewOrleans.com. That puts the big parade weekends at the end of January and early February.
If you only come once, come for the last week or so. Go Uptown on a weeknight, when it's mostly families on ladders. Find a spot, learn the parade order, and stay there. Our guide on what to do during Mardi Gras covers the rest.
Mardi Gras morning belongs to the walking clubs and the neighborhoods, not to Bourbon Street. It's also one of the days the Black Masking Indians come out, and if you're lucky enough to see a gang, give them room.
March: Super Sunday and Room to Breathe
March is our sleeper pick. The weather is usually kind, Carnival is over, and the city gets to catch its breath.
Super Sunday is the big one. The Black Masking Indians (often called Mardi Gras Indians) come out in suits they've spent the year sewing by hand, usually on a Sunday close to St. Joseph's Day. This is a community tradition, not a show. Watch, give the gangs room, and don't step in front of a Big Chief to get your photo. We wrote about Super Sunday here.
Book lovers have the Tennessee Williams and New Orleans Literary Festival in the Quarter, typically late in the month. And keep an eye out for the Congo Square Rhythms Festival in Armstrong Park, a free weekend built around the place where so much of this music started.
April: The Main Event
If somebody forced us to pick one month, it's this one.
French Quarter Fest, April 8 to 11, 2027. It's free, it leans hard on local musicians, and the stages are spread all over the Quarter. Dates are from French Quarter Festivals, Inc.
Jazz Fest, April 22 to 25 and April 29 to May 2, 2027. The festival FAQ has the dates and hours. Two weekends at the Fair Grounds and more food booths than you'll get through in a lifetime. If you're new, we wrote about how Jazz Fest grew from a few hundred people to what it is now.
The weekdays in between are when a lot of locals go out hardest. Clubs book late shows all week.
Crawfish is in season, too. Nobody needs an official festival for that.
May: The Neighborhood Fests
Once Jazz Fest packs up, the neighborhoods take over. Bayou Boogaloo has been a Mid-City tradition for two decades; in 2026 it moved off the bayou banks and into two venues nearby, so check the plan before you show up with a kayak. The Greek Festival usually lands on Memorial Day weekend.
These are smaller and cheaper, and you'll hear more "where y'at" than "where's the bathroom."
June: Creole Tomatoes and the Start of the Heat
June is when the city starts to slow down for summer. The Creole Tomato Festival in the French Market is a small, very New Orleans way to celebrate a tomato. Juneteenth has its own celebrations across the city.
Hurricane season starts June 1, and the afternoon storms start showing up around the same time.
July: Essence
Essence Festival of Culture typically fills the Superdome and the Convention Center over the Fourth of July weekend. If you aren't going, know that it's coming, because hotels and restaurants fill up downtown.
August: Small and Sweaty
Satchmo SummerFest, July 31 to August 1, 2027, celebrates Louis Armstrong with free music in the French Quarter, per French Quarter Festivals, Inc.
White Linen Night fills the Julia Street galleries on the first Saturday of August, and Dirty Linen Night follows on Royal Street a week later. Dress light. Restaurants run COOLinary specials all month. It's the slowest month of the year, and some of us like it that way.
September and October: The Fall Comeback
Southern Decadence fills the Quarter over Labor Day weekend. After that, the city waits for the first cold front like it's a holiday.
When it comes, usually sometime in October, everybody's outside. Crescent City Blues & BBQ takes over Lafayette Square; the 2026 edition was on October 10, according to WWOZ's listing. Then Halloween, which in this town is less a night and more a long weekend with costumes.
November and December: Po-Boys and Lights
The Oak Street Po-Boy Festival takes over Carrollton in the fall. Go hungry. If you need a primer, start with our local's guide to po-boys.
December means Celebration in the Oaks in City Park, plus réveillon dinners around town. Then it's January 6 again, and the whole thing starts over.
What to Wear to All of It
A festival year in New Orleans goes through a lot of outfits. A good T-shirt covers most of them. Our Line Up tee is a brass band joke for anybody who's ever followed one down the street. Listen To Your City is about as close to a festival motto as we've got. And if you want the whole calendar on your lapel, the Nola Seasons Enamel Pin covers snowball summers, football fall, carnival and festival season in about an inch.
New Orleans Festival Calendar: FAQ
What are the biggest festivals in New Orleans?
Mardi Gras and Jazz Fest draw the biggest crowds. French Quarter Fest is a huge free festival that leans heavily on local musicians, and Essence Fest fills downtown every July.
When is Jazz Fest 2027?
Jazz Fest 2027 runs Thursday, April 22 through Sunday, April 25 and Thursday, April 29 through Sunday, May 2 at the Fair Grounds Race Course, according to the festival's official FAQ.
When is Mardi Gras 2027?
Mardi Gras Day 2027 is Tuesday, February 9. Carnival season starts January 6, and the busiest parade weekends fall in the two weeks before Fat Tuesday.
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