Last Updated: Monday, September 30, 2024 11:19 AM by Lauren Saizan
Weekend Picks is your source for the best weekend activities in New Orleans. From live music to festivals, there’s plenty to do.
This weekend in New Orleans, enjoy National Fried Chicken Fest, Gretna Fest, Art for Art’s Sake, the end of NOLAxNOLA, and more! Fall festival season is in full swing. See our top picks for the weekend below.
The music never stops in New Orleans, and this September and October, mark your calendars for a citywide celebration of local musicians, music venues, and New Orleans culture. Catch your favorite artists and discover new ones at dozens of live performances all over town from September 26 - October 6 as part of NOLAxNOLA (NOLA BY NOLA). This weekend, check out The Inaugural Broadside Picnic: Tuba Skinny + Charlie & The Tropicales and All-Star Tribute to Allen Toussaint, plus more. Find even more shows here.
New Orleans is a wonderful place to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, which spans September 15-October 15. Learn about Hispanic heritage and culture by sampling authentic cuisine, exploring Hispanic history in the city, and supporting local Hispanic-owned businesses. On Friday, Oct. 4, enjoy a performance from Fermín Ceballos inside the New Orleans Jazz Museum’s Education Center at 2 p.m. The concert is free and open to the public.
The New Orleans Recreation Development Commission presents a family-friendly movie in a different park each Friday this fall. This Friday, Oct. 4, head to Goretti Playground for a screening of “Inside Out 2.” The movie begins at dusk and is free to attend.
National Fried Chicken Festival is back this October 5-6 at the New Orleans Lakefront. All kinds of fried chicken will be available for purchase. Performers for National Fried Chicken Fest include Bun B, Better Than Ezra, Teedra Moses, Cupid, Lost Bayou Ramblers, and more. There’s also a car show both days. Tickets for the fest are $20 daily.
Just across the Mississippi River from downtown New Orleans lies Gretna, and this October 4-6, a lot of folks will be headed that way. Gretna Fest returns with a lineup including Dierks Bentley, Natasha Bedingfield, The Revivalists, and several others. Tickets are $40 for a single day or $90 for a weekend pass.
Scales and Ales is an adults-only, 21+ fundraising event featuring delectable cuisine, beer and wine, specialty cocktails, and live music at Audubon Aquarium and Audubon Insectarium. General admission tickets are $100, and the event is October 4.
Black Love Fest is a family friendly all-day musical featuring live music and a network of Black-owned businesses. Flagboy Giz, Anjelika “Jelly” Joseph, and others will perform. Tickets are $20 and free for children under the age of 12. The festival is on Saturday, Oct. 5 from 1-6 p.m. at Hunter’s Field (1659 N. Claiborne Ave.).
Art for Art’s Sake returns on Saturday, Oct. 5 from 6-9 p.m. along Magazine Street. Enjoy browsing the more than 100 shops, stores, restaurants, and galleries participating along the six-mile stretch. Enjoy complimentary wine samples, special deals, and extended hours at a variety of participating Magazine Street businesses as well as live music throughout the evening. This event is free to attend.
Le Petite Theatre presents “Murder for Two,” the perfect blend of music, mayhem and murder. In this hilarious 90-minute show, two performers play 13 roles—not to mention the piano—in a witty and winking homage to old-fashioned murder mysteries. Tickets start at $37, plus fees, and the show runs the first three weekends of October.
After discovering an audiotape left by a college professor that contains voices reading from the Book of the Dead, Ash's girlfriend Linda becomes possessed by evil spirits that are awakened by the voices on the tape. Ash and the professor's daughter, Annie, must battle these hellish aquatic spirits to make it back to helping customers shop safe and shop smart. Catch the show at the Midtown Hotel on the last weekend of September and the first two weekends of October. Tickets are $20, plus fees.
Lauren Saizan is a New Orleans native raised in the Gentilly neighborhood. In addition to being the editorial and online content manager for New Orleans & Company, she is also a member of Mélange Dance Company. Lauren has performed professionally in many venues across the city, including the Sydney & Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden, the New Orleans Museum of Art, Longue Vue House & Gardens, and Marigny Opera House. When not writing or dancing, she can be spotted sipping the Blue Eyes tea at French Truck, attending a concert downtown, or visiting a local library.
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