New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival 2027: Dates, Lineup, Tickets and Travel Guide

The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (Jazz Fest) takes place at the Fair Grounds Race Course in the Gentilly neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana. The festival follows a distinct annual schedule, spanning eight days across two four-day weekends (Thursday through Sunday) in late April and early May.

The 2027 festival is officially scheduled for April 22–25 and April 29–May 2, 2027—starting one day earlier than the 2026 edition (which ran April 23–26 and April 30–May 3). The event typically features over 5,000 musicians across 14 stages, drawing around 475,000 attendees annually.

Understanding the festival's structure is key to planning your trip:

• Weekend 1 (Thu–Sun): Kickstarts the festival, featuring the initial lineup of headliners.

• Weekend 2 (Thu–Sun): Features a similar structure with a completely new set of headliners, allowing fans to attend both weekends without repetitive shows.

• Mid-week Gap (Mon–Wed): The main festival gates are closed, but live music fills local venues and music clubs across the city.

The 2027 lineup will be released in the coming months, with official tickets going on sale shortly after. Typically, weekend passes become available in the winter, followed by single-day passes in early spring.

Tip: Ignore dates on third-party countdown sites. Always rely on the official festival calendar at nojazzfest.com when booking flights and accommodations.

Every person entering the Fair Grounds needs a ticket, with the exception of children under two, who were free in 2026 ⁹. The official 2027 tickets page lists the festival as not currently on sale and says tickets will be released when the lineup is announced ³.

Prices for 2027 are therefore unpublished. The most recent reference points come from the 2026 edition:

• Thursday general admission for non-Louisiana residents: $99 in advance and $109 at the gate ⁹.

• Friday and Sunday general admission: $129 in advance and $139 at the gate ⁹.

• Saturday general admission: $149 in advance and $159 at the gate ⁹.

• Children aged 2 to 10: $5, sold at the gate ⁹.

• Four-day early-bird general admission weekend pass: $399 to $429 ⁹.

• Four-day standard general admission weekend pass: $659 to $719 ⁹.

• Payment plans started at $49 down, and Louisiana residents received discounted general admission pricing ⁵.

Those figures come from a third-party summary, so the official ticket page must be checked before buying. Reports from April 2026 said most weekend passes were sold out or waitlisted, though some single days remained ⁹. Saturday is the day to book first, because it carries the highest price and the heaviest crowd.

Premium packages also exist. The 2026 edition offered VIP passes and travel packages through the festival's ticketing site, and the on-site parking that exists is sold only in advance with the Big Chief, Grand Marshal and Krewe of Jazz Fest VIP packages ². A GA+ option listed for 2026 added express entry and a private lounge ⁹.

Note: Official tickets are sold through nojazzfest.com. Resale listings often start well above face value, and a barcode bought from a stranger can be a duplicate.

The Fair Grounds Race Course sits at 1751 Gentilly Boulevard, about 10 minutes from the French Quarter by car ². The practical way to get there without a car is the Jazz Fest Express shuttle, which runs from 10:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on all eight festival days in 2027 ².

From Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, the city centre is 20.3 km away, about 20 minutes by taxi or rideshare ¹⁰. Baton Rouge Airport is about 125 km away and Gulfport-Biloxi is about 128 km away, each around two hours by car ¹⁰.

The shuttle in 2026 left from four points: the Steamboat Natchez Dock at 400 Toulouse Street in the French Quarter, the Sheraton New Orleans at 500 Canal Street, the Hyatt Regency at 601 Loyola Avenue in the South Market District, and the Wisner Lot in City Park at 5700 Wisner Boulevard, which offers free parking ⁶. Pricing for 2026 was $29 for a single-day pass and $96 for a four-day pass, fees included, and the single-day pass covered one round trip ⁶. The shuttle drops riders inside the gates ⁵.

Public transit is the other route. In 2026 the Regional Transit Authority ran extra service on the #91 Jackson/Esplanade bus and the #48 Canal-City Park line, with three extra buses and one extra streetcar on the Canal side between about 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. ⁷. The #47 Canal-Cemeteries streetcar ran about every 20 minutes ⁷. Passengers then walk from the City Park end of the line toward the Fair Grounds.

Other options:

• Taxi stands at Stallings Playground and Walter Wolfman Washington Memorial Park ².

• Free bicycle parking near the Gentilly Boulevard and Sauvage Street pedestrian gates ².

• Accessible parking spaces at the Horseman's Gate on Gentilly Boulevard, first-come, first-served ².

Tip: Neighbourhood parking is restricted to residents, and oversized vehicles, RVs and charter buses cannot park or unload on site ². Driving is the slowest plan.

The Heritage Fair runs from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. each festival day, with last admission at 6:30 p.m. ². Music begins at the first tent when the gates open and finishes at the same time everywhere at dusk.

The Fair Grounds is organised around a handful of anchor stages, each with its own character ⁹:

• Festival Stage: the main headliner stage, with the largest capacity.

• Shell Gentilly Stage: the second-largest stage.

• Acura Stage: pop, rock, country and mainstream acts.

• Congo Square Stage: world, African, Caribbean, Latin and diaspora music.

• Economy Hall Tent: traditional New Orleans jazz, Dixieland and swing.

• Gospel Tent: all-day gospel performances.

• Blues Tent: Delta, Chicago and Louisiana blues.

• Jazz and Heritage Stage: local Louisiana music.

• Kids Tent: family shows and activities.

• Cultural Exchange Pavilion: a different country or culture each year; the 2026 focus was Jamaica ⁵.

Other areas include the Louisiana Folklife Village, the Native American Village and the Grandstand exhibits ¹. Craft booths, artisans and exhibits run alongside the music.

A workable day starts at a small tent, moves to a mid-size stage and ends at a headliner. Early afternoon in the Economy Hall Tent or Gospel Tent is the best time to hear the traditions that gave the festival its name. Headliners on the Acura Stage and Festival Stage generally play in the late afternoon, and the exit crowd arrives at the same time as the final set.

Because the lineup has not been published, set times for 2027 are not available ³. The daily schedule is posted on nojazzfest.com once it is released, and 2026 was published as a daily lineup grid ⁵.

Tip: Walk the whole site once on the first day. Stages are far enough apart that a walk between them takes real time, and the sound from the big stages bleeds into the tents close to them.

Average conditions on May 1 in New Orleans are a high of 83°F and a low of 68°F, with about a 25% chance of a wet day ¹¹. Late April is a little cooler, with highs rising from roughly 76°F early in the month to about 82°F at month end ¹³.

Humidity builds quickly through May: the chance of a muggy day on May 1 is 30% and climbs through the month ¹¹. Typical rainfall for a 31-day window around May 1 is about 4.3 inches ¹¹. A short afternoon thunderstorm can arrive without much warning, and ground that was dry at noon can be mud by 3 p.m.

What this means for each weekend:

• Weekend 1 (April 22-25, 2027) sits in the late-April stretch with slightly lower highs ².

• Weekend 2 (April 29-May 2, 2027) sits closer to the May 1 averages above ².

• Thursday and Friday are usually calmer than Saturday and Sunday at the gates and the food lines.

The infield has some shade under the grandstand and tent roofs, but the open grass in front of the Festival Stage has none. Sunscreen, a hat and a refillable water bottle matter more than any other item. Waterproof shoes are sensible because wet grass turns to mud in front of the big stages ¹⁰.

Tip: Check the radar around midday. When a storm cell passes, tent stages become the dry option and the grass in front of the headliners empties for an hour.

The Sheraton New Orleans on Canal Street is the festival's official hotel ⁴, and the Central Business District, the French Quarter and the Warehouse District are the areas closest to the shuttle departure points ⁶. Hotels sell out early: 6 to 12 months of advance booking is the guidance for the festival period ¹⁰.

Neighbourhood by neighbourhood:

• French Quarter: the most convenient and most expensive base during festival weekends, with walkable access to the Steamboat Natchez Dock shuttle stop ^{10 6}.

• Marigny and Bywater: cheaper than the French Quarter and full of live-music clubs, with a short ride to Gentilly Boulevard ¹⁰.

• Garden District: hotels along the streetcar line ¹⁰.

• Warehouse District and Central Business District: vacation rentals suit groups, and the Hyatt Regency and Sheraton shuttle stops are here ^{10 6}.

• Mid-City and Gentilly: closest to the gates, though lodging options are fewer and residents' parking restrictions apply ².

Many visitors arrive on Thursday before the first Friday and request early check-in ¹⁰. Some hotels offer festival packages that include shuttle tickets or discounted transport ¹⁰, and travel packages are also sold through the festival's ticketing system ⁵.

Because the festival has two weekends, hotels charge premium rates for Thursday to Sunday and sometimes a lower rate for the Monday to Wednesday gap between them. Visitors who stay both weekends can find that the gap nights cost less.

Tip: A hotel next to a streetcar stop on Canal Street can matter more than distance in kilometres, because the Canal line goes straight to City Park.

The Fair Grounds food booths serve Creole and Cajun food, and the dishes are a reason to attend by themselves ¹⁰. The 2026 Cultural Exchange food stand served Jamaican cuisine and beverages as part of the Jamaica theme ⁵.

A first-day sampler:

• Gumbo and red beans: slow-cooked Louisiana staples.

• Crawfish dishes: in season in spring, and a festival favourite.

• Cochon de lait: roast pig, typical of Cajun country.

• Po-boys: sandwiches on local French bread.

• Mango freeze and similar cold treats: the antidote to the infield heat.

All food, drink, craft and merchandise booths use cards or mobile wallets, so there is no point carrying cash ². Expect lines at the best-known booths from noon onward; an early lunch around opening time moves faster. A second idea is to split plates among a group and share, trying many dishes instead of finishing one.

Outside the gates, the neighbourhood around the Fair Grounds has breakfast cafes and casual lunch spots ¹⁰. The 2026 food list was published on the official site as a vendor list for the year ¹.

Tip: Mark a meeting point near a food area and not at a stage. Tents and stage fronts are loud, so a quieter spot suits a group re-gathering.

Mobile networks near the Fair Grounds get congested at peak hours, because 475,000 fans attended the 2026 festival across eight days ⁸. Public Wi-Fi is not a reliable plan at that scale, and phone data is what makes tickets, wallet taps, maps and rideshare work.

The festival is cashless, so every purchase depends on a card or mobile wallet ². The same phone carries the ticket barcode, the shuttle pass and the map. Roaming is the expensive way to run all that from abroad, and a local eSIM is the cheaper one. Visitors flying in from overseas can install a United States eSIM before departure and switch it on when the plane lands at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport.

Practical steps:

• Download the ticket barcode and the shuttle pass offline before leaving the hotel.

• Save the festival map and the stage list as screenshots.

• Share a live location with the group before entering the gates.

• Turn on low-power mode, because sun and constant screen use drain batteries; a pocket power bank helps.

• Note the RTA Rideline at 504-248-3900 and the Le Pass app for transit updates ⁷.

Rideshare pick-up and drop-off are restricted within a perimeter ², so the app must be open and data live to find the allowed point. If the connection fails, the taxi stands at Stallings Playground and Walter Wolfman Washington Memorial Park are the fallback ².

Tip: Message plans to the group before 6:30 p.m. last admission, because the exit crowd and the evening shuttle queue weigh on the network at about the same time ².