Best Metal and Rock Music Festivals in the USA

Locals Thursday 2024 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival Tickets Available In Presale

Discounted $50 tickets for the 2024 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival's opening-day Locals Thursday can be purchased online starting Saturday, April 20 at 10 a.M.

The discounted tickets for Louisiana residents will be available, with no additional fees, at www.Nojazzfest.Com.

The 2024 Locals Thursday is April 25. That day's headliners include Widespread Panic, the Beach Boys and Stephen Marley.

Buyers participating in the presale must have a Louisiana billing zip code attached to the credit card used to make the purchase. There is a two-ticket limit.

These pre-sale Locals Thursday tickets are mobile only and nontransferable. Buyers must enter the Fair Grounds with the guest using the second ticket. 

The presale ends at 11:59 p.M. On Wednesday, April 24.

Locals Thursday tickets can also be purchased at the Fair Grounds gate on Thursday, April 25. 

The festival's producers started making Locals Thursday tickets available for pre-purchase after long lines formed at ticket booths ahead of country star Luke Combs' Locals Thursday performance on May 5, 2022.

Everybody Feels Like A Local On Locals Thursday At The New Orleans Jazz Festival 2024

It was Locals Thursday at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. There were only, like, four people in each beer line, one or two waiting for cracklins, and nobody between you and an available porta-potty whatsoever. Even the tender white clouds had plenty of room to spread out in the brilliant blue sky.

That's the beauty of Locals Thursday. It's not as crowded as the weekend days, and the tickets are a little cheaper. Traditionally, it's a day to skip work, drop the kids off at grandma's and head to the Fair Grounds.

It's the day before the out-of-town festers arrive in force. Hence Locals Thursday.

New Orleans people sometimes have a narrow definition of what is local. Officially, Locals Thursday means people from anywhere in Louisiana are local enough to get the discount on tickets. On Thursday, folks from Houma, Slidell, Lacombe, Kentwood and even Florida all felt like they were where they belonged.

Ronnie Lamarque performs in the Economy Hall Tent during the 2022 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival on Friday, April 29, 2022. (Photo by Max Becherer, NOLA.Com, The Times-PicayuneThe New Orleans Advocate)

STAFF PHOTO BY MAX BECHERER

Heaven knows, nobody's more local than Ronnie Lamarque, who hails from Arabi, in St. Bernard Parish right across the borderline from New Orleans' Ninth Ward.

Tisha Seghers was front and center at the Gentilly stage for Lamarque's show. She explained that Ronnie is a super successful car dealership owner, but he's also, "kind of like an old crooner, like Sinatra."

"He's actually pretty good," Seghers said. And she's right.

Seghers is from Metairie, in Jefferson Parish, which is absolutely local.

Quint Davis, the Jazz Fest producer, is at least a second-generation local. His dad was a renowned architect who designed the Smoothie King Center, the UNO Arena, and scads of other modern buildings in the local region.

"We only have so many icons," Davis said, when he introduced Lamarque on the Gentilly stage, "and this is one!"

"You're just too good to be true," Lamarque sang, with customary gusto.

A blond woman in the first row said her name was Suzie Jagger Richards, which seemed unlikely. She said she invented the name as her Facebook handle 12 years ago, but has called herself that in real life ever since. Her two friends nodded in agreement.

Suzie Jagger Richards and Jody Day enjoying Locals' Day at Jazz Fest 2024

(Photo by Doug MacCash NOLA.ComThe Times-Picayune)

Ms. Jagger Richards (no hyphen) said she adopted the names of the two principal members of the Rolling Stones  because "I figured both of them are going to be my husband someday."

Her devotion to the Rolling Stones was especially resonant on Thursday, because Locals Thursday would ordinarily have been next week, on the Thursday before the second weekend of the fest. But that's when the Stones are playing, and the ticket prices are soaring, and the place is probably going to be as tightly packed as Vienna sausages with people who jetted in from everywhere.

Hence, it won't exactly be Locals Thursday.

Juan Blanch said that they call it Locals Thursday "because all your friends are here." Jody Day said Locals Thursday is "pure joy."

Ms. Jagger Richards lives in the Garden District (local), Day lives in Old Metairie (local) and Blanch lives just a few blocks away in Gentilly (definitely local).

According to Blanch, the definition of local boils down to this: "If you say 'yes sir' and 'yes ma'am,' then you're a local."

"It's an attitude," he said.

This has always been a very welcoming town. Discounted tickets or no, on Locals Day at Jazz Fest, everybody inside the racetrack can feel like a local.

And when the Rolling Stones' limousines roll through the gates next week and onto the infield, they're going to be here. Which makes them locals too. Yes, sir.

Never Been To Jazz Fest? Try This Road Trip For The Ultimate Louisiana Experience

Louisiana has more than 400 festivals per year, highlighted by big-ticket items such as Jazz Fest, ... [+] and worldly, small-town celebrations like Festival International. This representation of a celebration in New Orleans was painted by Elaine Adel Cummins.

Wake and Wander Media

Louisiana boasts more than 400 festivals every calendar year. For those bad at math, or drinking too many drive-thru daiquiris, that's an average of more than one a day.

Regardless of when you find yourself in the Bayou, you're bound to stumble upon some sort of celebration. The reason could be big, it could be small; for the locals, occasions are easy to come by.

"If you can eat it, shoot it, catch it, or dance to it, we have a festival celebrating it in Louisiana," said Louisiana Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser, who oversees the Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation & Tourism. "Everyone in Louisiana is very passionate about life, food, and culture, and our festivals are the result of that passion and joy that we put into life."

Most of Louisiana's festivals are centered around its culinary and musical heritage, but Nungesser said the true treat for visitors is to experience the state's southern hospitality.

"We treat strangers like family and make them part of the celebration and the culture," Nungesser said.

To see for yourself, I recommend a short (but sweet) Louisiana road trip that combines one of the states most revered festivals - the infamous Jazz Fest in New Orleans - with one of its most surprising: the Festival International in Lafayette. By combining the two, you'll get a peek at both big and small-town Louisiana life.

The Festival International de Louisiane takes place in Lafayette, Louisiana in April each year.

Wake and Wander

Festival International de Louisiane, April 26-30, 2023

Lafayette is probably best recognized as the home of the Rajin Cajuns of Louisiana State. Like any good college town, the area has blossomed due to the influx of youth and culture, and the diverse downtown area reflects this marriage of old southern charm and the modern, worldly entrepreneurial spirit.

You'll find this fusion in the local shops, which combine history, culture, music, and fashion (The Cajun Hatter, SOLA Violins, Attakapas Outpost), and, of course, in the food and restaurant scene. Enjoy the modern takes on classic country cooking at neighborhood joints like Hawk's Crawfish Boil at the Hideaway, compare the breakfast offerings at Dwyer's Cafe (classic country) and The French Press (Southern modern brunch), or try Cajun-infused Louisiana barbecue at Johnson's Boucaniere.

Every year in April, this evolution is echoed and enhanced by the arrival of the Festival International de Louisiane, which juxtaposes local and regional music against an international lineup of world musicians, drawing acts from as far away as the Ukraine, Argentina, and Africa.

This year's festival started out with a night dedicated to local Zydeco, a style of music, similar in sound to Cajun, that emerged from the Black creole communities of Southwest Louisiana. Later, it featured multiple shows by Natu Camara from Guinea, and ended with The Wailers from Jamaica.

The crowd is largely local, made all the more diverse by the fact that it's completely free to attend, family-friendly with multiple outdoor stages constructed and spread throughout the downtown area. Though accommodations are mostly modest, the Juliet Hotel is the first and only boutique hotel in Lafayette. For the highest luxury, book a room at the Lafayette Hotel or the Carriage House.

The entrance to Jazz Fest in New Orleans.

Wake and Wander Media

New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, April 28 to May 7, 2023

Leaving Lafayette and driving east on I-10 through the Atchafalaya National Wildlife Refuge, you'll feel like you've hit on something truly authentic with the Festival International. As you arrive in New Orleans just 2.5 hours later, you'll have the baseline and perspective you need to fully appreciate the state's most iconic festival.

The first "Jazz Fest" took place in 1970 in Congo Square, and only 350 people attended. Though small, it created a tremendous spark, and the festival spread like wildfire. It moved to the Fair Grounds Race Course in 1972 - where it still takes place today - and within 5 years it was drawing 80,000 people. On its tenth anniversary, it was three weekends in length with 300,000 people attending.

The growth was due to nothing more than New Orleans' stature as a hub for musical genius, and it was in the 1990s that the media began to fuel its fire. More stages were added to accommodate more kinds of music, at first worldly and culturally-driven acts, but later genres of all kinds. Over the years, everyone who is anyone, from Bruce Springsteen to Jimmy Buffett, from Christina Aguilera to Phish, has performed at Jazz Fest. In this way, Jazz Fest has become one of the most prestigious festivals in the entire world, and its larger-than-life acts sells themselves.

New Orleans' reputation as one of America's best cities for local live music will convince anyone on the fence. Indeed, much of the draw of Jazz Fest is what takes place outside the big names, as there's still plenty of local flair to be found in the side sessions, both at the festival (Jazz & Heritage Stage) and the nighty, intimate performances that take place around the city at small venues like d.B.A., Tipitina's (owned by local favorite and 2022 Jazz Fest main stage act Galactic), and Spotted Cat. It is here that you can still experience what the festival may have been like 50 years ago.

Days at Jazz Fest are long and sun-exposed, but there are a couple ways to ensure a more exclusive experience. Consider the Big Chief VIP experience, which gets you a spot in covered viewing areas of the three main stages, as well as access to an air-conditioned lounge, VIP shuttle and parking access, private food and beverage stands, and more.

Restful accommodations are a must to sustain the party. The Four Seasons New Orleans opened less than a year ago on the Mississippi waterfront at the foot of Canal Street in the historic World Trade Center building. The five-star hotel includes multiple dining options, a spa, and Vue Orleans, a rooftop observation deck that provides a bird's eye view of the city. Plus, easy access to lively areas, like Frenchmen Street.

Jazz Festival is an iconic experience all by itself. But when paired with a smaller, still-growing event like the Festival International, you experience the full range of what Louisiana has to offer in its music, culture, and people - both past and present.

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