2018 French Quarter Festival Line-Up

The 35th Annual French Quarter Festival, Thursday, April 12 through Sunday, April 15

One of the nation’s largest free outdoor music festivals is right around the corner and right in our backyard! We’re talking about the 35th Annual French Quarter Festival. This year, 20 stages will be set up around the French Quarter. Come hear some of the area’s best musicians play for free!

You'll find a wide range of music to enjoy, like traditional and contemporary jazz, New Orleans funk, classical, swing, rock, rhythm and blues, Cajun and zydeco, Latin, and just about any other genre you can think of. The 2018 musical line-up is finally out, and it includes hundreds of local bands. (See list below to see who's  playing when. For exact times, click here.)

The French Quarter Festival is about more than just music, though. There are also some fantastic special events planned, including the French Quarter Festival Second-Line Kickoff Parade. Get details. Food plays a big role, too (big surprise). Some of the most well-known restaurants in the city will be there serving world-famous New Orleans dishes – po-boys, crawfish, jambalaya, beignets and even drinks like the hurricane. Learn more.

Even if you can only go to the festival for one of the four days, it’s worth it. The weather is near perfect in April, and this festival is an ideal way to experience everything New Orleans has to offer in one concentrated area.

If you are planning on coming, then we recommend booking a room in the French Quarter in walking distance of all the festivities. (This is especially important when you need a place to take a break or use the restroom.) Plus, you’ll save money on transportation costs.

We recommend these hotels in the French Quarter. (This is where we send our friends and family anyway.) They are unique, have friendly staffs, are in good locations, close to the fun.

Thursday, April 12

• Alex McMurray
• Alvin Youngblood Hart’s Muscle Theory
• Bag of Donuts
• Banu Gibson and the New Orleans Hot Jazz
• Chubby Carrier and the Bayou Swamp Band
• Deltaphonic featuring Khris Royal
• Dirty Dozen Brass Band
• Fredy Omar con su Banda
• Gal Holiday and the Honky Tonk Revue
• Irma Thomas, Soul Queen of New Orleans
• Juju Child
• Lisa Amos
• Lost Bayou Ramblers
• Nathan Williams & the Zydeco Cha Chas
• New Breed Brass Band
• New Orleans Suspects
• Panorama Jazz Band
• Partners N Crime & The Big Easy Band featuring DJ
• Jubilee
• Preservation All-Stars
• Rechell Cook and the Regeneration Band
• Robin Barnes & The Fiyabirds
• Sweet Crude”Terrance “”Hollywood”” Taplin leads the Uptown
• Jazz Orchestra
• The Irene Sage Band
• The Pentones
• The Quickening
• T’Monde
• Tuba Skinny
• Waylon Thibodeaux Band

Friday, April 13

• Ashlin Parker Quartet
• Audacity Brass Band
• Babineaux Sisters Band
• Benny Grunch and the Bunch
• Big Frank & Lil Frank and the Dirty Old Men
• Bill Summers & Jazalsa
• Bon Bon Vivant
• Bonerama
• Burlesuqe
• Cha Wa
• Charlie Halloran and the Quality 6
• Chocolate Milk
• Dwayne Dopsie and the Zydeco Hellraisers
• Ellis Marsalis Quintet
• Jamal Batiste Band
• James Andrews
• Joe Krown
• Joe Lastie’s New Orleans Sound featuring Kid Merv
• John Boutté
• Jon Cleary
• Leroy Jones & New Orleans’ Finest
• Luther Kent Quartet
• Lynn Drury Band
• Magnetic EarMainLine
• Marc Stone
• Mario Abney
• Marshland
• Meschiya Lake and the Little Big Horns
• Mia Borders
• Naughty Professor
• New Orleans Cottonmouth Kings
• New Orleans Nightcrawlers
• Red Hot Brass Band
• Rory Danger & the Danger Dangers
• Sean Ardoin
• Shamarr Allen and the Underdawgs
• Smoke N Bones
• Stooges Brass Band
• Thais Clark & her JAZZsters
• The Catahoulas
• The Crooked Vines
• The Revealers
• Walter “Wolfman” Washington and the Roadmasters
• Water Seed
• Yung Vul
• Zachary Richard
• Zena Moses & Rue Fiya

Saturday, April 14

• A2D2 Experience with Antoine Diel & Arséne DeLay
• Al “Lil’ Fats” Jackson
• Alexandra Scott
• Alfred Banks w/Cool Nasty
• Amanda Ducorbier
• Amanda Shaw
• Anaïs St. JohnBig Chief Bo Dollis, Jr. & the Wild Magnolias
• Big Sam’s Funky Nation
• Brass-A-Holics
• Bruce Daigrepont Cajun Band
• Charmaine Neville
• Christian Serpas & Ghost Town
• Cole Williams Band
• Curley Taylor and Zydeco Trouble
• Dash Rip Rock
• Debbie Davis and Josh Paxton
• Don Vappie & the Creole Jazz Serenaders
• Edna Karr *
• Egg Yolk Jubilee
• Erica Falls
• Funk Monkey
• G and The Swingin’ Gypsies
• George and Gerald French
• Greater New Orleans Youth Orchestras
• Harpist Rachel Van Voorhees
• Heigher Heights Reggae Band
• Helen Gillet’s Wazozo Zorchestra
• Homer A. Plessy Community School
• Hot Rod Lincoln
• Jamil Sharif
• John “Papa” Gros
• John Rankin
• Kettle Black
• Kid Simmons Jazz Band
• Leroy Jones’ Original Hurricane Brass Band
• Linnzi Zaorski
• Little Freddie King
• Louis Ford and His New Orleans Flairs
• Luke Spurr AllenLulu and the Broadsides (feat. Dayna Kurtz)
• Luna Mora
• Mark Brooks
• Mason Ruffner
• Mike Harvey’s Hot Club
• Miss Sophie Lee
• Monk Boudreaux and the Golden Eagles
• Naydja CoJoe
• New Birth Brass Band
• New Orleans Classic Jazz Orchestra
• New Orleans Swamp Donkeys
• New Orleans Wildlife Band
• On The Levee Band
• Opera on Tap
• Orange Kellin’s New Orleans Deluxe Orchestra
• Original Dixieland Jazz Band
• Otra
• Papa Mali
• Patrice Fisher and Arpa
• Paul Sanchez and the Rolling Road Show
• Paulin Brothers Jazz Band
• Professor Craig Adams band
• Rebirth Brass Band
• Richard “Piano” Scott and Friends
• Shannon Powell Traditional All-Star Band
• Some Like it Hot Traditional Jazz Band
• Soul Brass Band
• Steve Pistorius & the Southern Syncopators
• Storyville Stompers Brass Band
• Sullivan Dabney’s Muzik Jazz Band
• Sunpie and the Louisiana Sunspots
• Sweet Olive String Band
• TBC Brass BandThe DayWalkers
• The Iguanas
• The Last Straws
• The Nayo Jones Experience
• The New Orleans Jazz Vipers
• The Ronnie Kole Show featuring John Perkins
• The Zion Harmonizers
• Tim Laughlin
• Tom McDermott and His Jazz Hellions
• Tricentennial High School Band
• Turnaround Arts Program/ReNew: Delores T. Aaron
• Middle School Brass Band
• Valerie Sassyfras
• Washboard Chaz Blues Trio
• Wendell Brunious
• Zydefunk

Sunday, April 15

• Adam Crochet
• Andre Bohren
• Andrew Hall’s Society Brass Band
• Andy J Forest Treeaux
• Astral Project
• Bamboula 2000
• Barbara Shorts and Blue Jazz
• Beth Patterson
• Blato Zlato
• Bonsoir Catin
• Bucktown All-Stars
• Calvin Johnson and Native Son
• Carl LeBlanc
• Chance Bushman & The Ibervillianaires
• Christien Bold & SoulSwing *
• Clive Wilson’s New Orleans Serenaders
• Corey Henry’s Treme Funktet
• Creole String Beans
• Cullen Landry and the Midnight Streetcar Band
• featuring Al “Carnival Time” Johnson
• Cyril Neville & Swamp Funk
• Dancing at Dusk with Tom Saunders and the
• Tomcats
• Darcy Malone and The Tangle
• Don Jamison Heritage School of Music
• Dr. Jee Yeoun Ko and Friends
• Ecirb Müller’s Twisted Dixie
• Evan Christopher’s Clarinet Road
• Garden District Band
• Germaine Bazzle
• Gina Brown & Anutha Level
• Gregory Agid Quartet
• Harmonouche
• Honey Island Swamp Band
• Hot Club of New Orleans
• Hot Stuff featuring Becky Allen
• James Martin Band 
• James Williams
• Jeremy Davenport
• John Royen’s New Orleans Rhythm Band
• Johnny Sansone
• Johnny Sketch and the Dirty Notes
• Kelcy Mae
• King James & The Special Men
• KIPP Believe College Prep 
• Landry Walker H.S.
• Lars Edegran and the New Orleans Ragtime
• Orchestra
• Lawrence Cotton Legendary Experience
• Lena PrimaMahogany Brass Band
• Mayumi Shara & New Orleans Jazz Letters
• Mikhala “Jazz Muffin” Iversen
• Michael Watson
• NOCCA Jazz Ensemble
• Ovi-G Froggies
• Palmetto Bug Stompers
• Papo y Son Mandao
• Raw Oyster Cult
• Red Wolf Brass Band
• Rhodes Spedale & Live Jazz Group
• Ricardo Pascal Orchestra
• Rockin’ Dopsie and the Zydeco Twisters
• Rosie Ledet & the Zydeco Playboys
• Russell Batiste and the Uptown Indians featuring
• Jason Neville
• Sam Price & the True Believers
• Sarah Quintana & The Miss River Band
• Shotgun Jazz Band
• Sierra Green & The Soul Machine
• Stephanie Jordan
• Symphony Chorus of New Orleans
• Ted Hefko and The Thousandaires
• The Albinas Prizgintas Quartet
• The Dixie Cups
• The Dukes of Dixieland
• The Joe Cabral Thrio
• The Jones Sisters
• The Mid-City Aces
• The Original Pinettes Brass Band
• The Pfister Sisters
• The Smoking Time Jazz Club
• The Tin Men
• The Vettes
• Tommy Sancton’s New Orleans Legacy Band
• Topsy Chapman and Solid Harmony
• Treme Brass Band
• Vivaz
• Wanda Rouzan and A Taste of New Orleans

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