New Orleans Book Festival

Mardi Gras for the MindLove how Tulane 's mission to create, communicate, and conserve knowledge extends beyond the university as the New Orleans Book Festival at Tulane University is free and open to the public. So much fun to be able to experience a great lineup of authors. Lead by well-known author Walter Isaacson and Cheryl Landrieu, the book festival is held annually on the undergraduate campus. Learned about innovation, food, and community with Kimball Musk moderated by Walter Isaacson. Interesting to learn about community gardens as well as the beginnings of Tesla, PayPal and Zip2. Loved hearing from Jake Tapper about his career in the news as well as writing novels. Maureen Dowd was the perfect moderator for this session. Have you ever used Khan Academy? Amazing how Sal Khan transformed a way to virtually tutor his family after Katrina into a way to offer free online education globally. The future? Education in the Age of AI.So lucky to meet authors and get a book signed at the festival tent. Grab a tote bag or a cup of coffee from PJs for free. Closed with the Queen of Soul, Irma Thomas, and a second line. Let the good times roll! There is literally something for everyone. I have it Book-marked for next year!

This is an annual event that my family looks forward too each year. This time was even better than previous years. The organizers put together a fabulous day that includes crafts, book readings, live entertainment, local foods and much more. City Park is the perfect setting as there is plenty of room for all the families as well as ample parking. Speaking of parking, there are free shuttles to and from event that is available at local libraries. Event starts at 1pm and concludes at 7pm with fireworks! I was impressed that the food vendors had low prices and family friendly choices. We hung out with Curious George and other characters. The Book Boys did a scavenger hunt and played games with the kids. Several tents had crafts set up, including coloring, mini books and face painting. Our favorite part overall was picking out free books to take home and getting some of our books personally signed by their authors!! We can't wait for the next Nola book festival.