As the weather rolls into classic New Orleans temperature, so follows the spring and summer music festival season! In the next upcoming months, festivals will be in full swing, featuring sounds from all genres and taking place all around Crescent City. Pick an old familiar, or turn on to something new-you’re bound to find an event full of fun! Stay here at Rathbone Mansions with you and your crew, and you’ll be close enough to enjoy everything with a quiet place to crash after.

A beloved festival starts us off right: The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival! Known simply as JazzFest, this staple music festival takes hold of the city for two weekends - April 28-30 and May 4-7. Taking place right up the road from us here at Rathbone Mansions, Jazzfest calls the Fair Grounds Race Course home. And the Fair Grounds is the perfect place for such a festival. A total of 13 stages for musical performers such as headliners Lizzo and Ed Sheeran, and local faves like Jon Batiste and Big Freedia, this festival will have something for everyone.

Don’t rest too long into May however, because coming in after will be Bayou Boogaloo. May 19-21, you can catch a fun filled 3-day weekend music festival in Mid City. Locals and tourists are welcome to enjoy this festival by land or by water, with the opportunity to kayak, canoe, and even float on a tube down Bayou St. John. Welcoming musical acts like Juvenile, The Iceman Special, and Hot 8 Brass Band, this is a community favorite event full of good tunes and good vibes.

Coming through for the beginning of June will be a new festival to New Orleans called Re:SET. Happening June 9-11, this newest edition to the festival scene will hold one stage at nearby City Park. Plan a night or three here at Rathbone Mansions and have close access to the festival, featuring sets by LCD Soundsystem, Boygenius, Steve Lacy, and many more. Be one of the first to experience this new music festival, and be able to brag to everyone that you did it first and did it in NOLA!

Now not all music festivals have to be a multiple day event, just take a look at NOLA Zydeco Fest! A fantastic and locally loved event, Zydeco Fest is just one day on June 10 over in the Garden District at A. L. Davis Park. This southern fried event will have all the music you can handle, and enough room to dance (which is highly encouraged). Wonderful Creole inspired music (and food) will be showcased, celebrating the blending of historic Louisiana cultures in this annual local festival.

Rounding out with a bang, you definitely don’t want to miss out on the gem of the summer-ESSENCE Fest! June 29-July 3 are the dates for this world-famous festival, and it will not disappoint with its lineup. Ms. Lauryn Hill, Megan Thee Stallion, and Doug E. Fresh are just some of the acts on deck at the Caesars Superdome arena. But the festival fun spills out into the rest of Crescent City, so don’t be caught without a room here at Rathbone Mansions to leave your things and go out to enjoy it all.

Warm weather is for good times with good folks, so head down here to New Orleans, where the music and food are waiting for you, hot and fresh!