Mardi Gras
It's easy to fall in love with the Big Easy this time of year. The awakening springtime palette is most vibrant at one of the dozens of Mardi Gras street parties and parades, masquerade balls, and king cake parties. The New Orleans Carnival tradition dates back more than 250 years to the earliest French settlers of Louisiana. The city's love affair with the season's festivities has grown into a rowdy, yet fanciful, pre-Lenten extravaganza that more than doubles the population of New Orleans the week leading up to Fat Tuesday. The Crescent City welcomes families and joyous revelers alike to cheer processions of floats as krewes of costumed carousers sling colorful beads, candy, and coveted doubloons.
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Jazz Fest
Though not the well-kept secret it once was, New Orleans' Jazz Fest is still a far cry from the madding crowds of Mardi Gras. Performers in the stellar lineup for the 2009 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival include Neil Young, Dave Matthews Band, Wilco, Bon Jovi, James Taylor, Earth, Wind & Fire, Kings of Leon, Neville Brothers, Bonnie Raitt, Erykah Badu, plus literally hundreds of others for Jazz Fest's 40th anniversary. Can't make the trip? Buy a coveted Jazz Fest poster to hang on your wall for $69 (unsigned). Jazz Fest posters are collector's items and are a sure bet to increase in value. (A 1996 poster now sells for upwards of $750.) It's probably as good an investment as you'll find in these times. Visit www.nojazzfest.com for a schedule of performances.
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