One of my favorite parts of Jazz Fest is what happens in its orbit, in the neighborhoods around it as people pour forth and the day shifts to evening. It becomes its own ad hoc street festival in motion.
It’s part of the countless ways that New Orleans people bring their own traditions and personality to big events, distilling the whole Jazz Fest experience down to individual restaurants and bars, pop-ups, porches and backyards.
The swell of social energy concentrates in a part of town that has a powerful magnetism for me throughout the year, centered on Faubourg St. John.
The regular city street grid here shifts to triangle-shaped blocks, lush pocket parks and intersecting sight lines of verdant trees and colorful homes dripping with historic detail. Once the festival ends for the day and the sun starts sinking through the lacing of live oaks, it all grows more sumptuous.
Snug within this are restaurants and bars that exude New Orleans character. The gate you choose for Jazz Fest egress sets your path for post-fest activities. I'm usually headed out the Sauvage Street gate (near the Gospel Tent).
This one puts you in the midst of a mass of commingled parties. My feet first lead me to Liuzza’s by the Track, a tavern that’s a hub of post fest partying. If it were any more a part of the Jazz Fest experience, it would have its own schedule cubes.
Nearby, I love how restaurants continue more or less normal service as the streets surge around them, with lots of outdoor seating that puts you in the scene, like the oh-so-French Café Degas and the new British pub neighbor the Bell. Often, you’ll find me toasting another day with a glass at Swirl Wine Bar across the street, and then it’s on to Pal’s Lounge, a modern classic of New Orleans bar culture.
It's a good time to let the traffic ease down, to let those ride share surge prices come back to Earth, and, to appreciate the way New Orleans culture and community make even the biggest events feel like our own.
