April showers bring May flowers, or in New Orleans April brings festivals, sports, Broadway plays and more festivals.
The most well-known festival coming up this month is the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, but it’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to this exciting month.
Make sure to check out our Events page to stay up to date with everything happening throughout the year in New Orleans.
April 2013 Events
April 6 – Freret Street Festival: Freret Street from Napoleon Avenue and Jefferson Avenue will be closed to cars to make room for music, food and more than 200 local vendors.
April 6 – Taste at the Lake: Celebrate the food, wine, music and community spirit of New Orleans at the Taste at the Lake 2013 event. Restaurants this year include everyone from Le Meritage to Reginelli’s. Buy one ticket and you’ll get access to it all.
April 6-7 – Spring Garden Show: Explore the New Orleans Botanical Garden and buy plants to take home to make your backyard look like the Botanical Garden. There will be educational speakers and a special play area for the kids.
April 7 and 9 – NCCAA Women’s Final Four: The excitement of NCAA comes to with the women battling it out for the championship. In addition to the games, there will be all sorts of related events –both free and paid.
April 11-14 – French Quarter Festival: A festival that both locals and visitors love. This year it brings together more than 800 local musicians performing on stages throughout the Quarter, 65 restaurants sharing their delicious food and fireworks. The music is 100% free.
April 12 – Zephyr’s Home Opener: Baseball comes back this year with the Zephyr’s, a minor league farm team of the Miami Marlins facing off against Round Rock Express. You’ll see up and coming future stars, as well as big names that are hoping to show that they still have it.
April 12-14 – Madame Butterfly: Did you know that New Orleans played host to some of the first opera’s in the United States? This year, Opera comes via the form of this Japanese tale of romance and betrayal.
April 12-14 – Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival: More than 300,000 people from all over the region head out to the Northshore to celebrate the lovable strawberry. There’s music, food, carnival rides and a whole lot more.
April 16-21 – Million Dollar Quartet: Broadway continues in New Orleans with the story of rock n’ roll icons Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins coming together for a one time recording session.
April 18 – Jazz In The Park: Music fills Armstrong Park every Thursday until mid-June. This year, James Andrews and Flow Tribe kick off the party on the eighteenth. Headliners include Kermit Ruffins on May 2 and George Porter Jr of The Meters.
April 20 – Reason To Ride: A brain tumor awareness benefit and poker run. Already 400 bikers have registered. There will be food and prizes, plus it’s for a good cause. What else do you need? Registration at 9 a.m. at Harley Davidson in Slidell. Contact Vivian Senez (504) 276-4663 or Lindi Senez (504) 982-2580 for more information.
April 22-28 – Zurich Classic: The PGA Tour makes a stop in New Orleans. Rickie Fowler and Keegan Bradley have just committed to play this year. Past participants included Jack Nicklaus, Vjay Singh, to name just a couple.
April 26 – Zoo to Do for Kids: Audubon Zoo transforms into a magical play land for kids of all ages. They promise live entertainment, musical performances, face painting, sports clinics and a video game center! A video game center? Am I too old to join in?
April 26-28 – New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival: Jazz Fest. Do I really need to say anything more? Jazz Fest is two weekends of music from the best local and international performers and music lovers from all over the world. This is a must! If you don’t come, you’ll be sad that you missed it.