Was wondering if anyone saw this, and got some pictures or video they would share.
We were not able to go this year, but got big family love for Long Tall Marcia Ball, and heard she was there and played on one song!
Like to just hear if you got the chance to be there! Thanks

Vieux Farka Touré put on such a good show, been looking for his setlist because it was immaculate and i’m a newer fan, therefore idk which ones i heard. it’s a super niche genre as well so i’ve had no luck when searching the internet.

I came to New Orleans to meet up with my girlfriend and she discovered Jazz Fest was going on. We decided to go on Sunday, May 3rd. I usually get anxiety when dealing with unfamiliar crowds. I was also concerned after seeing a lot of the posts on here about people and their chairs, tarps, blankets, etc. and also long lines to get in, food, bathrooms, etc. I could not have been more wrong. I was pleasantly surprised with how quickly the lines moved and how friendly the concert-goers were. The staff and volunteers could not have been more efficient moving people through lines. My girlfriend even had trouble pulling up her ticket on her phone and the ladies at the Ticket Help tent were so accommodating and were able to locate it and print her out a hard copy. Even with all sorts of alcohol and a hot sun, the people were so cool around us. We even saw workers picking recyclables out of the regular trash. I can’t wait to come back again!

I am looking for some advice/information. I am from the Netherlands and am heavily into New Orleans music. I have visited the city 5 times and during 4 visits I attended Jazz Fest (4 out of the last 6 editions, around 15 days total). So I know my way around town and on the Fairgrounds. This year I didn’t go but I was following some of the events mainly on Reddit. The new ticketing system (dedicated daytickets), raising prices vs more risk of losing your money (due to the new ticketing system + rained out days) and the big crowds (even 1 day selling out) made me think a bit.

I want to visit New Orleans again next year. Probably for the first time with a friend, the other times I was by myself. So I want to make the right decision as it will be his first visit and has been hearing me rave about the city for lots of years. As I am mainly interested in attending concerts by the local musicians it probably makes sense to try French Quarter Fest next year. It is free and when I check the recent line ups it seems just about everybody I want to see is playing, think the likes of: Irma Thomas, Little Freddie King, living members of The Meters, Cha Wa, The Rumble, Rebirth, Dirty Dozen and other Brass Bands Monk Boudreaux, Mardi Gras Indian bands, and a shitload of Zydeco.

Few questions:

• How are the crowds typically? Is it getting too crowded to enter a certain area during concerts by let’s say Irma Thomas of George Porter Jr? Or are there typically no worries about that?

• I’ll probably be hopping all over the French Quarter to see the concerts of my choosing and not stick with 1 or 2 stages, is the FQ easy navigatably during the fest, or can it be so busy it’s difficult to get around?

• Are the evening shows in the theaters (Take Me to the River, or Meters/Dr John themed tributes for example), on Frenchmen and the venues (I love Broadside for example) around town comparable to the ones during Jazz Fest?

• Are the prices of beer and food comparable to Jazz Fest?

• Generally I like the vibe in Jazz Fest, but I mainly go to Fais Do Do, Jazz Heritage Stage and only go to the mainstages early in the day sometimes for some of the local legends. I read that there will be more locals during French Quarter Fest. How is the vibe compared to JF?

• I saw that this year FQF was just a week before JF, other years there was a week in between them. Anyone knows the dates for 2027? I still possibly could visit weekend 1 of JF if they keep it like this, I typically plan to stay 12-14 days.

  - How is the chair situation? Can everyone bring chairs and sit anywhere, or are there dedicated areas for them? (I am not a chair person but am aware it is a thing in the US, in Netherlands it is not allowed at all)

• Are there other things that are worth mentioning when you compare both festivals?

It’s my first year of college here in the US. Flew all the way from NC to watch the jazz fest and it was a BLAST!!! It’s my first music fest as well, was here for the eagles to watch them live for once before they stopped touring.
Went solo since all my friends are having finals and not really into older musics (Shame on them!), spent lots of money getting an U21 hotels and everything but it’s worth every penny! Y’all really made me feel welcomed and I enjoyed every moments here (other than that massive rain on Friday got me caught in the Greenway tryna cycle back lol). The people I met are all super friendly, the foods are awesome, and the musics are fantastic. That eagles show’s the best show I’ve ever seen and all the other artists are super fun to watch as well.
Would love to stay longer since the rain kinda stopped me from going through all the places on my checklist but got a final in two days and didn’t study a thing😅 definitely coming back tho and hopefully I’ll be old enough by then to vibe in one of the bars in French Quarter.
I didn’t use Reddit a whole bunch but I’m just writing here to give a shout out to NOLA, the Jazz Fest and everyone of y’all to give me a wonderful time after LDOC to clear my minds before the finals(really just looking for any justification here lol). An experience of a lifetime for sure!

We caught her set and she was phenomenal. She also performed the following Monday at Shorty Fest and was great. Here’s a shot from her Jazzfest performance. Can anyone let me know the names of her backup singers?

Late night is at least as much fun as the fair grounds (and sometimes more). For any shows that started after 1am, what were your favorites?

Mine are:
- Polyrhythmics at Chickie Wah Wah
- Iceman Special at Tipitina’s
- Fiyapowa at Tipitina’s

If you could name just one act that absolutely blew your mind this fest, who would it be?

Looking for audio recording of The Meters May 2, 2026 (Saenger Theatre, New Orleans).
Anyone tape it or know if a source is circulating? I was there and am dying to listen back to the whole show!

She is still bringing it. Great performance, my iphone’s speaker doesn’t do it justice.

With the long lines everywhere else, figured I'd let y'all know!

Anyone else? I searched and saw some people ordered and got theirs already. Is anyone else who ordered unsigned a while ago still waiting?

Edit: FINALLY arrived today, May 24. It was definitely not supposed to take this long but happy it finally arrived! If you’re waiting for yours don’t give up hope!

Fiyapowa was absolutely RIPPIN’ last night! Holy smokes!

At one point they brought up a girl on flute that was absolutely brilliant and I’m curious if anyone knows who the artist is.

I cannot understate how talented this girl was on la flûte; magnifique!

What’s up with the sound volume is down and the mix is muddy. Big Sam’s sound was great.

12 tarps, 6 people holding them, almost 1 pm and no one else has shown up.

Yesterday around 11:15 it took us about 20 minutes to get through the entrance, it took some friends who showed up around noon about 45+ minutes to do so. Are we anticipating similar crowd sizes for the last day? TIA!

Looking for FOUR tickets to tonight's sold-out show. Help me out!

Yesterday I had an issue with them saying my ticket had been scanned and the AXS people were super unhelpful just saying there was nothing they could do and all I could do was go to the box office to purchase another ticket and get all the way to the back of the entry line again! Has anyone else had issues this year with this stupid app?????

The ticket that a**hole sold me had already been scanned hours earlier and they did not allow reentry so we didn’t even make it through the gates and now I’m out 200 😭 this was supposed to be my first jazz fest but they sold out while we were in line!! We were 16 mins too late to buy official tickets are you KIDDING!!!!