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New Orleans Food Festivals

You’ll find imaginative cuisine and tantalizing aromas at every New Orleans festival, but the events listed here are primarily about the food and the drink. Bring your stretchy pants and prepare to celebrate from “soup to nuts” (or should we say “gumbo to pralines.”) For specific event dates, which can change year to year, click here

New Orleans Food Festivals

MARCH

Bloody Mary Festival
From Uptown to the French Quarter, taste New Orleans craftiest and most delicious Bloody Marys.

Hogs For the Cause
Enjoy mouthwatering barbecue and donate to a great cause. This nonprofit benefit helps provide various expenses for families of kids undergoing treatment for pediatric brain cancer. The event is held annually at City Park with live music, cooking competitions, and plenty of tasty treats.

Louisiana Crawfish Festival 
Boiled crawfish, crawfish bread, crawfish pie, crawfish jambalaya...Taste mudbugs prepared in every way imaginable! While you’re there, take part in Cajun entertainment such as parade bands.

New Orleans Bourbon Festival
This event in The Sugar Mill in the Warehouse District features an outdoor marketplace with Bourbon-centric products, grand tastings from the world's finest distilleries, exceptional New Orleans cuisine, and live classical jazz performed in a "speakeasy" setting. 

APRIL

French Quarter Festival
Experience the World's Largest Jazz Brunch during the annual French Quarter Festival.  Over 100 great local restaurants serve their specialties at booths along the riverfront in Woldenberg Park, Jackson Square and the U.S. Mint.  Music and activities throughout the French Quarter!

Strawberry Festival
The Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival brings people together for the love of the plump, juicy strawberries and non-profit charities. This event has honored the hard work of local farmers and local charitable organizations for more than 40 years.

Tulane Crawfest
Crawfest is Tulane University’s annual food, music, and arts festival where more than 12,000 people come together for more than 20,000 pounds of crawfish and eight live bands on two stages. The event is free to students and $10 for the general public.

Slidell's Crawfish Cook-Off
This all-you-can-eat event features 60 teams competing for the title of "Best Crawfish in St. Tammany Parish." By festival's end, the teams will have boiled up nearly 45,000 pounds of mudbugs. For the price of admission, you get to eat as many crawfish as you like. 

A Taste of Covington
A five-day food and wine celebration takes place every April in Covington's charming historic district. Come discover the North Shore's culinary scene at Vintner Dinners, a Grand Tasting and a champagne jazz brunch. 

MAY

New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival
The food booths at this annual musical celebration are one of the reasons jazz fest goers keep coming back year after year.  The New Orleans Far Grounds (Race Track) is the setting for this Internationally known major music festival typically held the last weekend of April and the first weekend of May.  Single day and multi day Jazz Fest tickets are sold.

Bayou Boogaloo
You can't have the annual free music and arts festival set on the banks of the historic Bayou St. John without getting some great food as well.  With over 30 great restaurants specialty options to choose from, this Mid-City event has become a favorite of many locals!

New Orleans Wine and Food Experience
Hundreds of wineries and restaurants gather at the New Orleans Convention Center to showcase innovative, locally inspired culinary and beverage creations from top chefs. The event features more than 1,000 wines from around the world, tasting events, and seminars in the French Quarter.

Greek Festival
Immerse yourself in Greek culture and cuisine during the annual Greek Festival. Try authentic gyros, feta fries, calamari, spring lamb, Greek salad, and more. While you’re there, participate in cooking demonstrations. 

Food to eat in June

JUNE

New Orleans Oyster Festival
Feast on Louisiana Gulf Seafood as we celebrate local restaurateurs and oyster farmers in the Oyster Capital of America. Held annually in Woldenberg Park.

French Market Creole Tomato Festival
Whether you say tomato, or Creole tomato, you'll love this celebration of the fruit everyone thinks is a vegetable. Fried Green Tomatoes, Creole Tomato Bloody Marys, Creole Tomato with Shrimp Salad, Creole Tomato Basil Crepes, Creole Tomato Gelato, Creole Tomato Cream Crawfish Pies...Come hungry! 

St. Tammany Crab Festival (formerly the Lacombe Crab Festival) 
Take your “pick” of fat boiled crabs, golden fried softshell crabs, crab po-boys, boiled crawfish and shrimp and more at this two-day party in Slidell’s Heritage Park. 

JULY

Tales of the Cocktail
Every year, famous bartenders from around the country join New Orleans’ best mixologists and restauranteurs for Tales of the Cocktail. Enjoy "Spirited Dinners," lectures, demonstrations, and special luncheons, parties and cocktail hours.

AUGUST

COOLinary New Orleans
If you’re a foodie on a budget, there’s no better time to come to New Orleans than August. During COOLinary New Orleans, the city's most famous restaurants feature three-course lunches for $20 or less and three-course dinners for $35. Chill and get your fill.

Satchmo SummerFest
Since Red Beans & Rice was Satchmo's most favorite dish, you're sure to find some great Red Beans as well as other New Orleans favorites at the annual Satchmo SummerFest which takes place the first weekend in August each year in the French Quarter.

SEPTEMBER

Louisiana Seafood Festival
In Louisiana, we celebrate fresh Gulf seafood the only way we know how – with a festival! The event at City Park supports our local seafood industry. Come experience this three-day festival featuring food, cooking demonstrations, live music and more.

Live to Eat "Restaurant Week"
In New Orleans, we live to eat, so it should come as no surprise that we have a whole week dedicated to all of the amazing food in our city. The week-long event keeps the culinary industry top of mind for locals and visitors alike.

Burger Fest
Crescent Park at the riverfront near the French Market is the setting for this new festival which began in 2017.   Enjoy traditional beef burgers as well as hot sausage and seafood burgers (including lobster, crawfish, crab and shrimp).  Of course there's great music and fun activities as well.

Fried Chicken Festival 
This finger-lickin'-good festival in Lafayette Square is for the birds and those that love them. Dozens of local restaurants offer their take on what might just be America's favorite food, and there's live music throughout the day (the chicken dance is optional). Special events include a Fried Chicken Wing Eating Contest. 

NOLA on Tap
Start Oktoberfest early at NOLA on Tap, billed as the largest beer fest in the region. The event features 400+ local, national and homebrewed beers, non-beer drinks, food, music and fun. 

Foods to eat in October

OCTOBER

Oktoberfest
Love German food? Every weekend during October, head for Deutsches Haus on Moss Street in Mid-City.   The festival menu includes Sauerbraten, Krautwickel, Kasseler, Rippchen, Sauerkraut, Kartoffelbrei, Bratwurst and Giant Bavarian Pretzels – not to mention more 20 different German beers.

Beignet Festival
From traditional to inventive, sweet to savory, this festival celebrates café au laity’s best friend – the beignet. Whatever you do, don’t wear black.

Carnaval Latino 
This free Riverfront festival, sponsored by TABASCO is dedicated to exploring the authentic food and drinks found in the Big Easy that originated in Mexico, Honduras, Colombia, Cuba, and Spain. 

Crescent City Blues & BBQ Festival
Every year, lovers and blues and BBQ gather in Lafayette Square for finger-licking, guitar-picking fun. It's a smokin' good time. See you there.

Oak Street Po-Boy Festival 
The po-boy is celebrated for being as diverse as the city that created it. At this free Uptown festival, you’ll find a variety of mouthwatering and award-winning sandwiches from restaurants around the city.

Bridge City Gumbo Festival
Get your share of the more than 2,000 gallons of gumbo that will be served at this great festival. You can also enjoy jambalaya, red beans and rice with sausage and more. 

Louisiana Seafood Festival
Woldenberg Riverfront Park is the place to be on this special weekend in October to enjoy fresh Louisiana seafood dishes from Chef's around the state.  Enjoy the sights and sounds of the New Orleans riverfront while eating your favorite seafood!

NOVEMBER 

Boudin, Bourbon and Beer
Come enjoy more than 60 boudin inspired dishes from celebrity chefs like Emeril Lagasse, Donald Link and others. In past years, this event has been held at Champions Square, adjacent to the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. 

Treme Creole Gumbo Festival
Sample every kind of gumbo imaginable during the free Treme Creole Gumbo Festival in Armstrong Park. This event is hosted by the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival and Foundation, a non-profit seeking to spread appreciation for New Orleans food and culture.

DECEMBER

Reveillon Dinners
As part of Christmas New Orleans Style, nearly three dozen of the city’s best restaurants serve four-course Reveillon Dinners similar to those enjoyed by the Creole families who began the tradition in the 19th century. It’s just one more way to experience the holidays in New Orleans. 

 


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