My husband and I recently traveled to New Orleans for the first day of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. The 10-day cultural and musical celebration kicked off April 28. While we’ve been to the Big Easy several times, this was our first Jazz Fest visit.

There are 12 different stages set up throughout the city’s Fair Grounds Race Course, ensuring visitors have plenty of musical options. Performances take place all day, so there is always something to see. The festival runs 11 a.m.–7 p.m. We arrived around noon, just in time to see a performance by the Mardi Gras Indians. We watched a variety of performances, though my favorites were the performers in the gospel tent. Harry Connick, Jr.; Leon Bridges; Nas; Aaron Neville; and Kermit Ruffins were among the more popular performances. Throughout the day we bounced around from stage to stage, stopping along the way to browse the various art and other goods for sale.

In addition to the numerous performances and shopping, we sampled some of New Orleans’ finest dishes. The crawfish Monica, an iconic festival dish of macaroni and cheese with creole spices and crawfish, was by far my favorite. We also enjoyed crawfish toast, beignets and frozen coffee.

Jazz Fest is a one-of-a-kind experience highlighting the best of the Big Easy. Consider attending next year’s festival April 27–May 6, 2018.

— Katie Skrzek, vice president/digital director