April is the best month to visit New Orleans. Four festivals, new restaurants, and 80-degree weather.
April Might Be the Best Month to Visit New Orleans
Four festivals in four weeks. A stack of new restaurants. Highs in the upper 70s with the occasional afternoon rain shower that cools everything off. If you're planning a trip to New Orleans, April is the month.
Here's what's going on this year, week by week.
Week 1: Overlook Film Fest + Hondo Rodeo Fest (April 9-12)
Two brand new events land the same weekend.
Overlook Film Festival (April 9-12) is a horror film festival at the Prytania Theatres. This is their 10th year. 62 films from 10 countries, immersive experiences, and a horror-themed Second Line parade through the French Quarter on opening night. If you're into ghost tours, this is your crowd.
Hondo Rodeo Fest (April 10-12) takes over the Superdome for a three-day rodeo and country music festival. Jason Aldean, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Creed, Old Dominion. There's also a free daytime street fest at Champions Square with food and local music from noon to 6pm.
Two totally different vibes, same weekend. That's New Orleans.
Week 2: French Quarter Fest (April 16-19)
This is the one locals love. French Quarter Fest is free, it's spread across 20 stages from Jackson Square to Woldenberg Park, and it draws 302 performances this year. The food lineup has 70+ local vendors. No tickets, no wristbands, just show up.
If you've never been to New Orleans before, French Quarter Fest is honestly a better first visit than Jazz Fest. Smaller crowds, free admission, and the whole thing happens in the Quarter so you're already where the restaurants and bars are.
Morning swamp tour + afternoon at FQF + ghost tour that night is a perfect day.
TrendingSignature 16-Seat New Orleans Airboat Swamp Tour
The classic New Orleans airboat experience.About 1 hour 45 minutes
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TrendingFrench Quarter Ghost & Vampire Walking Tour
Our Most Popular Ghost Tour!1 hour 45 minutes
See AvailabilityWeeks 3-4: Jazz Fest (April 23 - May 3)
The big one. Jazz Fest runs two weekends at the Fair Grounds with Monday through Wednesday off in between. Eagles, Stevie Nicks, Rod Stewart, Tyler Childers, Lorde, Jon Batiste, Earth Wind & Fire. and so many more.
What most people don't plan for is the downtime. Gates don't open until 11am. Music ends around 7pm. And the mid-week days are wide open.
One tip if you want to see the main headliner: get to the stage early and camp out, or bring a crew where somebody is always holding your spot. People set up folding chair barricades in front of the main stages, and it can be a real hassle to work your way in if you show up right before the headliner starts.
The first swamp tour departs at 9:45am (hotel pickup at 8:30am) and gets you back by 12:30pm, so you can still catch the afternoon headliners. Ghost tours start at 8pm, right after the music wraps. We put together a full Jazz Fest week guide with a day-by-day planner.
TrendingNew Orleans Super-Sized Airboat Swamp Tour
Super-Sized Value, Super-Sized ThrillsAbout 1 hour 45 minutes
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Apparitions & Libations Haunted Pub Crawl
The French Quarter's Most Haunted Bars, After DarkAbout 1 hour 45 minutes
See Availability
Gators, Ghosts & Vampires of New Orleans Combo
Two Legendary Experiences, One Epic DayAbout 9 hours (with a long break between activities)
See AvailabilityRestaurants Worth Checking Out
A few places worth eating at while you're here:
Bonafried (3101 Grand Route Saint John) finally went brick-and-mortar after years as a food truck. Fried chicken sandwiches, fries, full bar. They're only open Thursday through Sunday right now, so plan accordingly.
Verti Marte (1201 Royal St) is a 24-hour French Quarter deli that recently went viral again for their spicy muffaletta. The lines are long whenever we walk by for a ghost tour, and for good reason. Cash only, open around the clock. Get the spicy muffaletta or the All That Jazz po-boy.
Clesi's (4323 Bienville St) is a Mid-City seafood spot where you go for crawfish boils, oysters on the half shell, and cold beer on the patio. April is prime crawfish season, and this is one of the best places in the city to eat them.
Coop's Place (1109 Decatur St) is a loud, no-frills bar where the Cajun food has no business being this good. The rabbit and sausage jambalaya is the signature dish. Cash only, no reservations, closed Wednesdays.
For late-night eats after a ghost tour, we have a whole guide for that.
NOLA News: Interview with the Vampire Turns 50
Anne Rice wrote Interview with the Vampire in a house on Divisadero Street in San Francisco, but the story starts right here, on a Louisiana plantation. Fifty years later, her son Christopher Rice and Penguin Random House are releasing a special anniversary edition on October 6. New foreword by Leigh Bardugo, never-before-seen manuscript pages, and blood-red sprayed edges.
If you haven't read it, the short version: a reluctant heir to a Louisiana plantation gets turned into a vampire by the charismatic Lestat, and the rest is 200 years of New Orleans history seen through undead eyes. It's the book that turned vampires from monsters into something more interesting, and it's the reason half our ghost tour guests ask about vampires.
The 50th Anniversary Edition is available for preorder now.
What to Pack
April weather in New Orleans: highs around 78-82°F, lows around 61°F. It rains about 7 days in the month but usually in quick afternoon bursts, not all-day soakers.
Bring: comfortable walking shoes (you'll cover a lot of ground), sunscreen, sunglasses, a light rain layer. Pack a light jacket for evening ghost tours. Dress for summer during the day.
Book Your Tours Before You Get Here
April is our busiest month. Between French Quarter Fest and Jazz Fest, tens of thousands of visitors hit the city and the popular tour times fill up. If you already know your dates, lock in your spots now. Call or text us at (504) 226-5433 if you want help picking the right tour for your group.
Leonard Crist
Co-Owner & Operations
Leonard Crist is the co-owner of Gators & Ghosts in the French Quarter. Born in Louisiana and raised up north, he has a degree in journalism and a law school dropout story that ended with him moving to New Orleans in 2013 to help his aunt Charlotte grow the business. He also works as a ghost tour guide and is still trying to get on Jeopardy.
