Traditions of New Orleans
A Creole city of Mardi Gras, second-line parades, jazz funerals and gumbo, where food and music are inherited.
New Orleans was founded by the French in 1718 and shaped by Spanish, African, Caribbean and Native American cultures. Its calendar of Carnival, saints' days and parades makes the city sound and taste different from the rest of the United States. Music and cooking are woven into community life.
Mardi Gras and the second line
Carnival season, from Twelfth Night to Fat Tuesday, brings krewes who parade on floats and throw beads and doubloons. Black communities hold Mardi Gras Indian processions, in which men sew huge beaded suits each year. A second line is a parade in which a brass band leads and neighbours follow with handkerchiefs and umbrellas, also at funerals.
At the table
Gumbo, jambalaya, red beans and rice on Mondays, po'boys, oysters, and beignets with chicory coffee are the foundations. A king cake with a hidden plastic baby is baked during Carnival, and the finder buys the next. On All Saints' Day, families tend tombs and whitewash them.
Signature traditions of New Orleans
Also part of it, and being written: Mardi Gras in New Orleans (The carnival.), Gumbo (The stew.), King cake (The cake.).
A trail idea for New Orleans
- French Quarter Walk early in the morning.
- Frenchmen Street Hear jazz.
- Café du Monde Eat beignets.
Written by the EveryParampara desk with AI assistance. Opening hours, markets and festival dates change; check locally before travelling. Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.
🇺🇸 New Orleans, United StatesSecond line
A New Orleans parade where clubs march and a crowd dances along behind the bandFestival
🇺🇸 New Orleans, United StatesKrewe
Carnival clubs that stage parades, balls, and pageantry along the Gulf CoastFestival
🇺🇸 Los Angeles, United StatesSuper Bowl
The annual championship game of American professional football, held every February.Game
🇭🇳 Honduras and 4 morePunta
A lively dance and music style of the Garifuna people, celebrated in Central America and the Caribbean.Performance
🇺🇸 New Orleans, United States and 5 moreMardi Gras
A festive day of parades and rich foods marking the final celebration before the Christian fasting season of Lent beginsFestival
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreTwelfth Night
The closing evening of the Christmas season, kept with cake, carols and wassailSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇺🇸 New Orleans, United StatesMardi Gras Indians
A New Orleans carnival tradition where Black revelers wear elaborate Native American-inspired suits to honor historical Festival
🇺🇸 New York, United States and 1 moreEaster parade
A festive Easter Sunday stroll featuring stylish clothes and elaborate bonnetsFestival
🇻🇳 Saigon, Vietnam and 5 moreBánh mì
A Vietnamese baguette sandwich filled with meats, pickles, herbs, and condiments.Table custom · Breakfast
🇺🇸 New Orleans, United StatesJazz funeral
A New Orleans funeral march led by brass music, moving from mourning to joyful danceRite of passage
🇬🇧 Yorkshire, United Kingdom and 3 moreMischief NightNoson Ddrygioni (Welsh); Oidhche nan Cleas (Scottish Gaelic)
An evening of pranks and tricks, kept before Halloween or Guy Fawkes NightFestival
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 3 moreMischief Night
An informal autumn evening of neighbourhood tricks, practical jokes and street pranksFestival
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Mardi Gras Indians: Infrogmation of New Orleans, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Second line: Infrogmation of New Orleans, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Easter parade: Meister der Palastkapelle in Palermo, Public domain, source
- Bánh mì: Andrea Nguyen, CC BY 2.0, source
- Jazz funeral: Photo by Infrogmation, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Twelfth Night: Hablot Knight Browne: scanned by Steven J Plunkett, Public domain, source
- Krewe: Tim Ross, Public domain, source
- Super Bowl: John Tornow, CC BY 2.0, source
- Punta: Pitxiquin, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Mischief Night: Roseohioresident, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Mardi Gras: Infrogmation of New Orleans, CC BY-SA 4.0, source