Located in the heart of Mid City on the banks of the Bayou Saint John, the Bayou Boogaloo festival brings local music, art and food to the people of New Orleans. This upcoming festival is the 7^th annual Bayou Boogaloo and will take place on May 18-20, 2012.

The festival is known for its sustainability because of its solar powered stages, Bio-Diesel generators, local and organic foods, a recycling program, sustainable living education and coastal restoration education. The festival has three live music stages featuring local musicians from various genres, a local arts market and a variety of local food vendors. The festival is family friendly and there is a children’s stage and games and activities. The Bayou Boogaloo is one of the best festivals to experience local flavor.

Think of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (a.k.a. Jazz Fest) as the Mardi Gras of music festivals. For two weekends every year, New Orleans transforms into mecca for musicians and music lovers – a place where fans flock to pay respects to an incredible lineup of musicians, from international headliners to local legends.

Jazz Fest has grown from a humble 350 attendees in 1970, when the festival was held in Congo Square, to record-breaking crowds year after year. Hundreds of thousands of music fans head to New Orleans the last weekend in April and first weekend in May for what Life Magazine called “the country’s best music festival” and Wall Street Journal described as “a wider, deeper lineup of essential American musical styles than any festival in the nation.” The festival features 13 stages and showcases music from just about every genre you can imagine, including jazz, gospel, folk, Cajun, zydeco, blues, R & B, rock, funk, African and Latin Caribbean.

And, because this is New Orleans, food is a major draw at Jazz Fest. The festival stretches far beyond the typical carnival fare in every way. A select group of more than 60 vendors sell heritage eats and local favorites, from the famous cochon de lait po-boy and Crawfish Monica to regional favorites jambalaya and jama-jama.

Jazz Fest stages

After years of being rated a top B&B in New Orleans and the US,  TripAdvisor sent a team to check us out. April Robb along with her film crew, spent 3 hours this week filming and talking with the 1896 O’Malley House staff to find out our secrets. They toured guest rooms, common areas and our new courtyard to get an idea of what our guests experience while staying with us.

They were very impressed with all the small things we provided to the guests at no cost, such as the free wine, beer and snacks.  The one thing they really loved were the iPads in the guest rooms, computer in the common area and wireless printer on the O’Malley House network.

They then filmed interviews with us to be used as training for hotel and B&B staff from around the country on how to better use TripAdvisor tools and data. They have also asked us to speak at the upcoming TripAdvisor meeting in New Orleans.

New Orleans is known for its great weather, local music scene and food culture – all of the ingredients necessary for an active year-round festival calendar. We’ve got Jazz Fest, Satchmo Fest, Crescent City Blues & Barbecue, not to mention the Tennessee Williams Literary Festival and countless other food and music fests. But if you ask any New Orleanian to name their favorite, chances are they’ll pick French Quarter Fest.

Once a small, local music festival, French Quarter Fest has grown into the largest free live music festival in the south. Year after year, French Quarter Fest breaks attendance records as music-lovers (more than half a million at last count) flock to New Orleans for this festival celebrating the history, the people, the food, and the talents of Louisiana and the Gulf south. The festival is so popular, an extra day was added to the schedule in 2011 to accommodate music fans and additional performers.

What you need to know about French Quarter Festival:

* It’s FREE! And, as a result, hotels in the French Quarter are booked months in advance, so get your New Orleans hotel rooms early! Check out our Deals page for special rates and packages.

* 18 major stages line the streets of the French Quarter, the French Market, the U.S. Mint, Jackson Square and Woldenberg Park on the Mississippi River.

* More than 90 food and beverage booths (all local restaurants) are scattered across the festival grounds, a feat organizers like to call “the largest Jazz Brunch in the World.” Vendors include GW Fins, Muriel’s Restaurant, Pat O’Brien’s Bar, Love at First Bite (makers of the famous cochon de lait po-boy) and other local favorites.

* It’s a local thing! The festival celebrates the best in New Orleans’ rich, local music scene. Past performers include Trombone Shorty, Amanda Shaw, Kermit Ruffins, Irvin Mayfield, Connie Jones, Pete Fountain, Vince Vance, Tim Laughlin and more.

* Grab a map at an information booth. The festival is spread across the French Quarter, and the map covers everything you need to know – stage locations, performance schedules, food zones, restrooms and more.

* Bring a fest chair or blanket and dress for the season. There is no seating at the festival, and New Orleans is typically warm and sunny on spring days, followed by cooler evenings when the sun goes down.

* Looking for more to do while you’re in New Orleans? Take a French Quarter tour. The Boos! & Booze ghost tour, the French Quarter walking tour, and the French Quarter vampire tour are a few of the most popular.

The 1896 O’Malley House has Good News for  guests this month!  The 1896 O’Malley House B&B is the first in the country to offer the  InnConcierge  App to its guests. The newest App for the hospitality industry .  The InnConcierge App is used on IPads provided by the 1896 O’Malley House in each guest room.

The Concierge app gives guest users access to a broad range of information including area attractions/history, tours,  gift shop, dining, in-room services , spa services, contact numbers and even guest reviews. In addition, it provides access to the latest packages and specials as well as connecting to social media platforms directly from guest rooms with thousands of free apps available for download. This tool, which will soon be complemented by versions for other handheld devices (such as iPhone, iTouch, and Android), is integrated with social networking tools, enabling guests to share data and interact with services from  the 1896 O’Malley House B&B.

New Orleans Bed and Breakfast 1896 O’Malley House provides close lodgings to New Orleans’ largest free music event, the French Quarter Festival, which starts up this year on April 12th. The festival runs through April 15th and features over 800 local musicians. There is no charge for the actual performances, but you will need cash for the delicious food and drink offerings, including the “World’s Largest Jazz Brunch”, which are the food booths operating within the festival.

On Saturday at 9:00 pm, enjoy Fireworks on the Mississippi. Two childrens’ areas will be available throughout the festival, and more than 65 New Orleans restaurants will provide food for sale.

Parking is available within the French Quarter, but slots fill up early. A free shuttle will be provided on Friday and Saturday from 10:30 am to 10:00pm, and on Sunday from 10:30 am to 8:00pm. Park and ride from O’Keefe, between Poydras and Canal. You can park in area lots and garages for $10 all day.

View French Quarter Festival in a larger map

Come to New Orleans to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day! (And keep your eyes open for flying potatoes and cabbages.) Every year, New Orleans embraces its ties to the Emerald Isle with celebrations around the city and a parade in the Irish Channel – a neighborhood settled by Irish immigrants in the early 19^th Century. You don’t have to be Irish to get into the spirit – the festivities are like a New Orleans neighborhood block party, and everyone’s invited.

The epicenter of St. Paddy’s celebrations is Parasol’s Bar (2533 Constance St., (504) 302-1543) and nearby newcomer Tracey’s Bar (2604 Magazine Street, (504) 897-5413) – near the Garden District and about 10 minutes from the French Quarter and downtown New Orleans. Neighbors and locals pack the bars and pour into the street for a day filled with green beer and this uniquely New Orleans party.

Every year, the Irish Channel St. Patrick’s Day Club holds its annual mass and parade celebration. Mass starts at 12 noon at St. Mary’s Assumption Church (2030 Constance Street) and is followed by the parade at 1 p.m.  The parade route travels eight blocks, starting at the corner of Felicity Street and Magazine and rolls from Jackson Avenue to St. Charles Avenue to Louisiana Avenue to Magazine Street, and ends on Jackson Ave. Like all parades in New Orleans, expect to catch the typical strands of green beads and commemorative doubloons, but parade marchers and riders also hand out special throws, including potatoes and heads of cabbage. 

If you’re in town for all of the festivities, don’t miss the Irish Channel St. Patrick’s Day Club Block party, featuring Irish music, dancers, food, arts and crafts and, naturally, plenty of beer. The benefit block party will take place on Thursday, March 15, 2012 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Annunciation Square Playground, directly in front of the parties beneficiary: St. Michael’s Special School.

The Irish Channel St. Patrick’s Day Club was organized in the Channel in 1947 and held the annual mass and parade for more than 60 years. The club’s 1,400 members are ethnically diverse, all claiming strong ties to the Irish Channel neighborhood.

The Stage Door Canteen at the National World War II Museum presents “On the Air“, a live theater presentation in New Orleans.

The show was created especially for the Stage Door Canteen and combined elements of a live 1945 Radio Broadcast. You will  also take a role as member of the Live Studio Audience. The show contains music, comedy and more.

Starting Friday, March 9, 2012 and running through Sunday, May 27, 2012
(Friday & Saturday Evenings and Sunday Matinees, including two seatings for Mother’s Day)

Tickets may be purchased for dinner and the show, or the show alone, or bunch and show for the Sunday matinee performances.

Only minutes away from the Canteen, is our New Orleans Bed and Breakfast, the 1896 O’Malley House. Stay with us and enjoy a luxurious night’s stay after your historical theater experience.

View National World War II Museum in a larger map

5th Annual Big Easy Blues Festival at UNO Lakefront Arena live on Saturday, February 11th, 2012 at 7:00 pm.

If you think Mardi Gras is a good time, check us out on December 31. New Orleans throws the best New Year’s Eve party in the country. Live music, hot nightclubs, a fireworks extravaganza on the river and more await – book your trip to the Big Easy today!