'Fall' for New Orleans!

What? You thought New Orleans was a place to visit in January for the Sugar Bowl? In March for Mardi Gras? Maybe during the summer or the holidays?

Oh, cher, how wrong you would be!

The Big Easy is a 24-7-365 kind of town and always will be, including during autumn. It's precisely why you need to head south and 'Fall' for New Orleans.

The fall is a different kind of time in The Big Easy. It's hard to imagine N'awlins being much more laid back and cooler than it is, but autumn brings a host of new and different things to do in the city that you just don't get at any other time.

And a great many of them are free.

The annual Fried Chicken Fest will be held October 1-2, 2022, at the Lakefront this year, a new location but the same premise - a celebration of all things friend chicken. If Bubba from 'Forrest Gump' had a thousand different ways to make shrimp, wait until you see how Louisiana natives fry chicken. Admission is free.

The breakfast staple of New Orleans - well, um, some of us have been known to eat them for other meals as well - has its own festival of course. The Beignet Fest will take place on September 24 in MidCity. This is the sweetest part, literally and figuratively, of any visit. You're not doing New Orleans right unless you had a few Hurricanes and left the party behind in the Quarter to grab a few of these French pastry delights on the way back to the hotel. There is a nominal admission to the Beignet Fest, but the proceeds benefit the Beignet Fest Foundation, whose mission is to celebrate and improve the lives of children with developmental delays and disabilities. For that reason alone, it's worth it.

Simply put, NolaXNola should be considered a 'must-go' for music lover. The city that gave us great jazz holds this festival every year and this year it will take place from September 25 to October 9 around The Big Easy. It will feature virtually any and every style of music.

Two things that residents of New Orleans love to do is listen to music and satisfy their palate. Welcome to the annual Crescent City Blues & BBQ Fest. Hosted by the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation, the event will be held this year from October 14-16 at fabled Lafayette Square Park. That's the place to be to hear some of the best blues and jazz the city has to offer, couple with some of the best barbecue vendors from the top restaurants in The Big Easy.

Now, we ask you …. what would New Orleans, home of voodoo and black magic, be without one of the country's greatest celebrations of Halloween? It would be humdrum; this town is the furthest thing from hum-drum. And this ain't your Dad's Halloween celebration either. In New Orleans it stretches a week or more, including the parade with the Krewe of Boo and celebrations around the city.

And, of course, Halloween leads right into the annual Holiday New Orleans Style celebrations, a curation of the city's most celebrated seasonal traditions. The evets kick off around the second week of December and run for more than a week as restaurants, retailers, hotels, and special event hosts celebrating the holidays. The light displays are not to be missed.

And that's not all. There are other free things to do, such as the Historic New Orleans Collection, City Park, Audubon Park, the Riverfront, and, of course, jazz. Lots and lots of jazz.