42 Best Performing Arts Venues in New Orleans, Louisiana

Saenger Theatre

Tremé

Built in 1927, The Saenger has impressive ceiling decorations, a chandelier that came from a château near Versailles, and Italian baroque–style flourishes. It hosts a Broadway in New Orleans series as well as national headliners.

Satchmo SummerFest

The August weekend-long tribute to the late, great Louis Armstrong honors Satchmo with jazz performances staged throughout the Quarter, seminars and discussions with Armstrong scholars, a Satchmo Club Strut down Frenchmen Street, and the Louis Armstrong Birthday Party.

Southern Decadence

On Labor Day weekend, hundreds of drag-queens-for-a-day parade through the Quarter. What began as a small party among friends has evolved into one of the South's biggest gay celebrations. The parade rolls—and as the day wears on, staggers—along on Sunday, but Decadence parties and events start Thursday evening.

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Southern Repertory Theater

Seventh Ward

This well-established theater company specializes in original, first-rate contemporary theater productions. It stages premiers by regional and international playwrights and hosts a variety of community workshops and classes. Performances take place in a gorgeously renovated former church, with a full bar and plenty of gothic charm.

St. Patrick's Day and St. Joseph's Day

A couple of big parades roll on the weekend closest to March 17: one starts at Molly's at the Market and winds through the French Quarter; the other, in Uptown, goes down Magazine Street and turns the area around Irish Channel neighborhood bars Parasol's and Tracey's into one big, green block party. Two days later (March 19) the town celebrates St. Joseph's Day with home-cooked food and goodie bags filled with cookies and lucky fava beans. Check the NOLA tourism website for announcements of altars that you can visit.

Summer Lyric Theatre

Uptown

This theater produces three crowd-pleasing musicals every summer at Tulane's Dixon Hall. Tickets run from $5 to $35 and tend to sell out fast.

Tennessee Williams & New Orleans Literary Festival

The annual March multi-day tribute to the Streetcar Named Desire playwright draws well-known and aspiring writers, lecturers, and a handful of Williams's acquaintances, along with music and theater, both classic and original. It closes with contestants re-enacting Stanley Kowalski's big "Stella-a-a!" moment.

Tigermen Den

Bywater
Every second Sunday from 11 am to 3 pm, this quaint venue hosts a family-friendly Cajun brunch, a traditional "fais do-do," where a rowdy pack of tourists and locals crowd into the rustic space for live Cajun music. There's plenty of alcoholic beverages, coffee, and delicious food, usually provided by a local vendor like Bywater Bakery. Don't worry, beginner's dance lessons each brunch will have you Cajun two-steppin' in no time. The charge is usually $10 at the door on Sundays; other times, check the website for cultural events and concerts that take place here.

Tulane University

Uptown

Best known for its summer bills of fare, the university has several arts and theater groups that stage top-notch musical and dramatic productions.

Summer Lyric Theatre. This theater produces three crowd-pleasing musicals every summer at Tulane's Dixon Hall. Tickets run $28 to $37, and tend to sell out fast. (504/865–5269; www.summerlyric.tulane.edu).

Summer Shakespeare Festival. Tulane's Summer Shakespeare Festival, at the university's Lupin Theater, interprets the Bard's work in a series of four imaginative, high-quality productions. (504/865–5106; www.neworleansshakespeare.com).

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Voodoo Music + Arts Experience

Part music festival, part giant interactive art exhibition, and part Halloween bash, Voodoo Experience is a festival that's held the last weekend of October. It attracts eclectic young masses with its mix of edgy national acts, local bands, and art installations in various media.

Zeitgeist Multidisciplinary Arts Center

Uptown

Working with volunteer staff and a shoestring budget, Zeitgeist founder and filmmaker Rene Broussard established this funky and eclectic space as a venue for experimental theater. It later developed into the city's center for alternative cinema, though it continues to stage live performances as well.