The New Orleans Jazz Fest has music on 12 stages, plus interviews, parades, kids' activities, food, crafts sales and demonstrations. The festival begins Friday and goes through Sunday and then Thursday through May 6, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
WHERE: Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots, 1751 Gentilly Blvd.
ADMISSION: At the gate, $65 for adults and $5 for children ages 2 to 10. Advance tickets are $50, plus service charges, through Ticketmaster.com or by calling 800.745.3000, as well as through the New Orleans Arena box office, 1501 Girod St. For box office hours, details on VIP passes and other details, visit nojazzfest.com/tickets.
SECURITY: All bags will be searched; vehicles are subject to search. Oversized vehicles such as RVs and buses will not be allowed to unload passengers in front of the festival gates. Bags and backpacks can be no larger than 17 inches by 12 inches by 10 inches.
PARKING: No public parking onsite, except for a limited number of spaces for those with disabilities and for those with Big Chief or Grand Marshal VIP ticket packages. Handicapped-accessible parking is limited, but available at the Gentilly Boulevard lot and costs $50 a day. A handicap license plate or placard, or other state-issued identification, is required. For information about other services for people with disabilities, call 504.410.6104, email access@nojazzfest.com or visit nojazzfest.com/info/disability.php. Call Jazz Fest Express in advance to make arrangements for the wheelchair-accessible shuttle bus: 504.569.1401 or 800.233.2628.
Free bicycle parking is at the Gentilly Boulevard and Sauvage Street pedestrian gates. Gray Line Tours will operate Jazz Fest Express, offering continuous round-trip transportation daily from 10:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. from the Sheraton Hotel, 500 Canal St., downtown; Steamboat Natchez dock (Toulouse Street at the Mississippi River); and City Park (next to Marconi Meadow). The round-trip shuttle costs $18 ($14 from City Park). A one-way ticket from the festival to downtown is $10. Admission and Jazz Fest Express day-of tickets are available for sale from these locations or through Ticketmaster. Free parking is available with round-trip shuttle tickets.
Those with disabilities or with general questions should call 504.569.1401 or 800.535.7786, or visit graylineneworleans.com/jazzfest.html.
Obey all parking regulations. Remember: Parking within 20 feet of a crosswalk, intersection or stop sign in residential neighborhoods is prohibited. Motorists also are reminded to park in the direction of travel on one-way streets, and with the right wheel to the curb on two-way streets.
Car towed? Call the Parking Violations Bureau at 504.565.7451.
PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION: The Regional Transit Authority is operating regular service during Jazz Fest. Board the Esplanade bus at Canal and Rampart streets and ride to Grand Route St. John; or board the City Park/Museum streetcar at any stop along Canal Street between the river and Carrollton Avenue, and ride to the end of the line at Beauregard Circle (North Carrollton at Esplanade Avenue); or get on the streetcar at the Canal Street cemeteries, transfer to the City Park/Museum line at Carrollton and ride to Beauregard Circle. The walk from Beauregard Circle to the nearest Fair Grounds entrance (at Sauvage and Fortin streets) is about eight blocks. The quickest route: From Esplanade Avenue, take a left on Maurepas Street then a left on Sauvage Street. (The regular fare is $1.25 per person, 40 cents for seniors with ID. Also, one-day Jazzy Passes are $3; three-day passes are $9.) For details, visit norta.com.
DISABILITIES: For information, call 504.558.7849, or email access@nojazzfest.com. There are wheelchair spaces available at all tents and at the three main stages as well as wheelchair-accessible portable toilets. Wheelchairs and medical scooters are permitted. The Paralyzed Veterans of America operate a booth, inside the Gentilly Pedestrian Gate, where conventional wheelchairs are available on a first-come, first-served basis. See parking for more details.
DON'TS: Hard coolers, beverages, wagons, weapons, pets, glass, tents, metal poles, beach or pole-style umbrellas, canopies, athletic games and wheeled personal transport devices. No audio or video recording equipment. No chairs/tarps in the standing-room-only areas at the Acura and Gentilly stages. (Other restrictions apply.)
DO'S: Push strollers for children, wheelchairs/medical scooters, single collapsible chairs, soft coolers (12-pack size or smaller), ground tarps smaller than 6 feet by 8 feet, factory-sealed water up to 1 liter.
INFORMATION: Call 504.522.4786, or visit nola.com/jazzfest or nojazzfest.com.
