Jazz Fest tips for first-timers: a day at the Fair Grounds

My mother took me to my first Jazz Fest when I was six, and I have missed only a few since. The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival takes over the Fair Grounds race track for two long weekends, at the end of April and the start of May, with about a dozen stages and more food than you can eat in a week. Here is how to spend a day there.

Which weekend

Both are good, and the lineups are posted in January. The first weekend tends to be a little less crowded; the second has more of the local legends closing the main stages. Thursdays, when they are on the schedule, are the quietest days of all, and the locals' favorite.

Plan by tents, not by stars

First-timers try to see the big names on the main stages and spend the day walking between them in the sun. Do one of those, and spend the rest of your day in the tents. The Gospel Tent has choirs that will lift you off your seat. The Jazz Tent has the best musicians in the city. The Blues Tent has fans and shade. Find a tent you like and stay a while.

Eat like a local

The food is half the reason people go. The booths are run by local restaurants and church groups, and some have sold the same dish for decades: crawfish Monica, cochon de lait po-boys, mango freeze. Eat small and often, and share with your neighbors.

Practical things

Wear a hat and comfortable shoes, carry water and sunscreen, and bring a poncho: it often rains at least once. Chairs and blankets are allowed in the field areas. Go early, around eleven, and leave before the last sets if you want to beat the crowds to the shuttles.

After the festival

When the gates close at seven, the music moves to the clubs. Frenchmen Street, Tipitina's, the Maple Leaf and dozens of other rooms book festival musicians for late shows, and they often go until three or four in the morning. Pace yourself: there is another festival day tomorrow.

The other festivals

If Jazz Fest is too big, French Quarter Fest in April is free, spread across the old city, and almost entirely local musicians. Satchmo SummerFest in early August is small, hot and devoted to Louis Armstrong. Our festival trips cover all three, and the tour leader on each of them knows the grounds as well as I do.