Are you still recovering from Mardi Gras?
If you are, then you need to make it a speedy recovery, because Mardi Gras was only the beginning of a season of festivals.
New Orleans is a city that never sleeps, and with spring in the air
and Mardi Gras as its kickoff, you might want to get ready for three more months of party time.
The season begins this weekend with the annual St. Patrick’s Day Weekend.
You may say, “Wait a second. St. Patrick’s Day is only one day.”
Well, in New Orleans St. Patrick’s Day lasts from March 14-17.
With a parade every day and an enormous block party on the 17th, you will be seeing emerald green and four leaf clovers for another three weeks.
The hot spots for the weekend include Molly’s at the Market and Parasol’s downtown.
With Irish music and dancing all weekend, everyone will want to be Irish.
For fans of literature and performance, there is the Tennessee Williams Literary Festival March 26-30.
This five-day celebration showcases local and national scholars, writers and performers.
The event commemorates the literary genius of southern playwright Tennessee Williams, who wrote extraordinary works such as “A Streetcar Named Desire.”
The events include panel discussions, theatrical performances, musical performances, a book fair and a one-act play competition.
This is definitely one for all you English and drama majors.
After you have partied with the Irish and expanded your knowledge of literature, it should be about time to fill your stomach.
The French Quarter Festival will celebrate its 20th anniversary with all of New Orleans culture gathered together in just a few city blocks.
From April 11-13 the Quarter will have 14 stages of all kinds of
music — contemporary, Cajun, zydeco, blues and gospel.
With 60 booths of New Orleans fine cuisine and the world’s largest jazz brunch, you won’t walk away hungry.
Not only does this festival feature the tastes and sounds of the Crescent City, but also the sights, with art exhibits that line the streets offering modern and classic southern masterpieces.
Also in April, there is another festival outside of New Orleans even sweeter than the one in town — the Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival.
This celebration attracts more than 225,000 people every year to the strawberry capital of Louisiana.
The fest boasts the greatest strawberries in the southeast, some of the greatest cooking in Louisiana and a Strawberry King and Queen. But don’t get your hopes up — only natives can hold a position of such honor.
The Ponchatoula Chamber of Commerce declared the month of April “Strawberry Month,” and what better way to celebrate than eating strawberries in every dish imaginable?
Probably the largest and most notable of all the festivals in the spring is the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, better known as Jazz Fest.
The celebration spans two weekends from April 24 through May 4.
To spice things up this year, one more day has been added to the schedule, and there are more music acts lining this year’s showcase than ever before.
The festival celebrates Louisiana’s — and specifically New Orleans’ — contributions to world culture, and includes every aspect of human culture.
The lineup of musical guests is extremely diverse and runs from classical to contemporary artists.
Headliners this year include, Bob Dylan, Crosby, Stills and Nash, Dr. John, Gladys Knight, Joe Cocker, LL Cool J, Widespread Panic, Lil’ Romeo, John Mayer, India.Arie and Ben Harper, just to name a few.
New Orleans would not forget its own bands though; Cowboy Mouth, the Olympia Brass Band, Kermit Ruffins & the Barbecue Swingers and the Rebirth Brass Band are among the long list of local acts performing.
Although Jazz Fest is noted most for its musical attractions, it also puts a strong emphasis on the diversity of culture, with art exhibits representing African and Native American influence on Louisiana’s deep history.
And you thought Mardi Gras was the end.
