5 Things To Do in New Orleans in spring

NOLA loves to party, and there’s no better time to “Laissez les Bon Temps Rouler” – or “Let the Good Times Roll” – than during the festival season. The annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade sees the city turn green, with vibrant floats, lively block parties, dazzling dance troops and even the odd flying cabbage. The French Quarter Festival celebrates the history, culture and music of Louisiana’s most famous historical district, with bands striking up on every corner, and food stalls showcasing the city’s best restaurants in Jackson Square.

Considered one of the best music festivals in the United States, New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, known by the locals as Jazz Fest, has seen music legends including Fats Domino, Harry Connick Jr. and Wynton Marsalis perform. And with 13 music stages, the festival isn’t all about jazz – fans of gospel, blues, R&B, folk and zydeco will find plenty to love here, too.

Nothing says “Louisiana” like a tour of the incredible swamplands that lie just outside of New Orleans, and the bright days of spring offer plenty of opportunities for visitors to hop on board. Whatever your fitness level, there’s a way to explore the waterways, including kayaking, airboat rides, pedalling along on a barge, or simply sitting back and relaxing on a motor boat cruise. Incredible wildlife abounds, from the infamous alligators to raccoons, turtles and white-tailed deer, while Spanish moss sways in towering cypress trees and herons fish from the banks.

Beyond the bayous, take time to visit one of the region’s historic sugar, indigo and rice plantations, like the Whitney Plantation, Laura Plantation, or Houmas House Estate & Gardens, to learn about the lives of enslaved people who worked in Louisiana and the history of slavery in the southern states of the USA leading up to the Civil War.

The blue-sky days of spring are made for strolling NOLA’s eclectic neighbourhoods, uncovering local favourites and meeting the people who bring this uniquely southern U.S. city to life. The famed historic French Quarter, known as the “Vieux Carré”, is NOLA’s oldest district and the first stop on most visitors’ itineraries, with iconic Bourbon Street the main artery running through its pulsing heart. Dating back to 1721, this is where you’ll find restaurants, bars and hotels, alive with the legends of Old New Orleans, and ready to create new memories. With its long tradition of embracing diversity, the Quarter’s Lavender Line on St. Ann Street welcomes LGBTQ+ visitors to the city’s Gaybourhood, and is home to Lafitte’s, the oldest continuously operating bar in the United States. Uptown, wander the Garden District to see opulent mansions and browse the bougie boutiques, or soak up some history in the nation’s earliest African-American neighbourhood, Treme.

Unsurprisingly for the “Birthplace of Jazz”, great music is everywhere in The Big Easy: drifting out from the bars and clubs of Bourbon Street, forming the soundtrack to your walk through a city square, and packing in crowds from edgy dive bars to high-end hotel lounges.

Frenchman Street is one of NOLA’s main music hubs, home to quintessential jazz venues like The Spotted Cat Music Club and Snug Harbor Jazz Bistro, and no visit to NOLA is complete without a visit to the French Quarter’s legendary Preservation Hall, which offers an intimate, immersive evening of traditional jazz from a collective of more than 50 mind-blowing local musicians.

Not a jazz fan? The city caters for lovers of rock, dance, metal and more, too. Bamboula’s hosts a variety of music acts, while The Maison offers weekly burlesque and drag shows.

New Orleans has no shortage of high-end eateries serving international, contemporary cuisine, but when you’re in Louisiana, it’s the traditional dishes, born from the bayous, that call. Reflecting the state’s many influences and cultures, Cajun and Creole cooking combine European and African ingredients and flavours in dishes like jambalaya (a rice dish with meat, seafood and vegetables), gumbo (a thick meat and/or seafood and vegetable stew) and red beans and rice.

Spring is crawfish season in New Orleans, and “crawfish boils” are common around town, bringing locals and visitors together for an impromptu shared seafood dining experience, often accompanied by live music. Nowhere does classic dining in New Orleans quite like Dooky Chase’s which serves up a variety of Creole favourites.

A blend of garlic, onion, basil, thyme, pepper, paprika, cayenne, salt and other herbs, Creole seasoning adds zing to vegetarian and vegan food, too, with restaurants like Meals From The Heart Cafe offering plant-based, sustainable takes on many of the southern classics.