Crescent City Blues & BBQ Festival

Family friendly festival for anyone of all ages. I love how this festival takes place in the small Lafayette Square Park yet they're able to fit so much in there. Two stages, a large art and a large food section. I also love that they have a bike valet, completely for free so you don't have to risk parking your bike in the streets where it can get stolen or vandalized. Entering the festival, there's tons of grass area to sit and enjoy the music. Everyone is pretty respectful and not rowdy. There's a huge food section which has about 6-10 vendors. The food is very reasonably priced and not jacked up for the festival. Most vendors also take credit card which is great. Entry to the festival is also completely free! They do take donations though! Overall, very fun family oriented festival. Not too crowded and easy to get to. Parking would definitely be a problem so get there early!

Every year I volunteer with the NOFF on the weekend so I can finish my shifts and head over here for music and BBQ. Eventhough it started pouring down today and with muddy ground, we still had so much fun. The food was plentyful and so tasty. The best way to try all the food is to bring a bunch of your friends and share foods to know which line to stand. Because of the rain, this year it was only myself and another friend end up going to the festivals. We both also end up getting free swags from Southern Comforts. A win win for us.

The blues and barbecue festival is a free event and starts on Friday evening and continues through Sunday evening. This is in a small park with a great set up. The grassy area is a place to put blankets chairs and walk through. There are two stages at opposite ends of the park so when one band finishes you just stand up and turn your chairAnd the other stage starts with a band. Soft drinks are 2 dollars, can beer is 5 dollars and water is 2 dollarYou will find many good vendors with all kinds of barbecue and sides. The food vendors are lined up on the outside edge of the park and on the other side you will find local crafts for sale! This is a great free festival.

I just stumbled upon this FREE public music festival while strolling the streets of New Orleans. It's hard not to love a free festival! I was first attracted by the multiple food tents and street food stands (I just can't resist that type of thing), specially the huge plumes of smoke billowing out of the bbq pits. The food stands had really long lines and really high prices, two things you'd expect at a festival. The cool thing is that many of the food stands featured Southern food (where else can you get a plate of collard greens with ham hocks?) and most of it was cooked to order on the spot. There were a lot of cool little vendor booths with folks selling all sorts of locally crafted goods (candles, jewelry, soap, greeting cards), vintage tin signs, and bunches of local art. Not really a shopping destination in its own right but definitely worth browsing. The musicians were all talented and although I only spent a little over an hour at the festival, they had modern and classic jazz musicians playing. There really is a little something for everybody.

FREE admission and GOOD food. It's rare to go to a festival where most of the food you order is good. Make sure you take a look at all the food booths first before you order since some of them sell similar items. My favorite dish had to be the brisket sliders. I guess I'm used to CA prices because I was shocked that the majority of the dishes were between $5-7. Bring cash! No outside drinks allowed which isn't a big deal because the drinks are also pretty cheap. For desserts there were pies, gelato, cookies, and of course praline goodies available for purchase. On the other side of the festival was a small area with vendors selling random merchandise. We didn't stick around to watch the different artists perform but the music was easy to listen to. Bring a blanket or something to sit on if you decide to watch the performers.

The music is always great at this festival while the food just frustrates the ever living hunger out of my belly! They NEVER have enough BBQ vendors and the vendors are always running out of things. The lines to get something to eat are ridiculously LONG! It is literally quicker to drive out to the Bywater and eat at the Joint and drive back then to wait in the line for BBQ at the Joint booth at the festival. Guess what? For the last two years that's exactly what I've been doing and I just drive out and eat at the Joint before going to this fest and that's probably your best bet (until they add more vendors and provide some relief to the crazy long food lines).

A mellow, smaller festival in Lafayette Square on a beautiful day! There is a modest craft fair and a diverse offering of bbq fare from the ordinary (brisket, chicken, pulled pork sandwich) to the odd (pulled pork egg rolls, bbq filled jalapeño poppers, bbq tofu). Two stages of music and shady areas on a sunny but mildly warm NOLA day made this a laidback fest worth the visit.

The music and food were very good. Having two stages made for seamless music, As soon as one band stopped the next started. The square is a very nice and convenient venue, but it is small for the size of the crowd. We had some nice food, it was hard to decide what to get, there were so many yummy choices. Overall, a great time.

Jonathan Boogie Long.... Great music.Really great food. Nice atmosphere. good drinks. Excellent festival!

That's it! More employees than customers (4) and I still waited to be acknowledged. I attempted eye contact with 3 ppl; waited for the server that entered the bar to ask, "are you being helped?" I care enough about patronizing businesses in my neighborhood to say, COME ON, WTH?? I want to share my hood but this is embarrassing. I would love to have my organizations to host a holiday party or other event here. But you are NOT ready.