A city alive with music and energy, New Orleans is perfect for student groups looking for performance opportunities.
While in the Big Easy, it’s easy to catch a show, and you’ll likely hear street performers and brass bands out and about while traversing the city. But New Orleans also wants educators to know there are plenty of ways for your band or choir group to perform themselves. And while you’re in town, you should check out all the great new NOLA attractions!
PERFORMANCE OPPORTUNITIES
Have Your Own Parade
Let the good times roll in New Orleans with your own second-line parade. You can celebrate the city’s culture with a brass band, parasols and handkerchiefs by hiring a second-line coordinator or working with a New Orleans expert.
Lakeside Shopping Center
New Orleans’ favorite shopping destination has been a huge hub for 60 years now, for locals and visitors alike. Groups can perform here in designated mall locations for large numbers of passing people.
Riverfront Performance Space
Perform on board the newest addition to the riverfront, the Riverboat City of New Orleans, or perform dockside next to the Steamboat Natchez, the last authentic steamboat on the Mississippi. Your group can also learn from local musicians at Grayline New Orleans’ music clinic.
New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park
This is an excellent setting for student performance, celebrating the cultural history of the development of jazz in New Orleans. At the visitor center, students can learn from ranger talks or participate in a drum circle!
Oscar Dunn Park
With the backdrop of Jackson Square and the St. Louis Cathedral, this park is the perfect location for performance groups to share their talent with locals and tourists in a large outdoor venue.
WHAT’S NEW
There’s plenty new to explore in New Orleans. The newly built Liberation Pavilion at the National World War II Museum is a three-story building exploring the closing months of the war and following years, with an explanation of links to our lives today. The museum also recently introduced Expression of America, a sound and light experience celebrating the power of individual Americans to impact the world around them during monumental conflict, with written words, songs and personal reflections from the everyday people who served in our country during WWII.
Check out the cultural funhouse, Jamnola, designed by local artists for a topsy-turvy stroll of learning and entertainment. Opened just a few years ago, the Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience explores the many ways that Jews influences and were influenced by the distinct cultural heritage of the American South. Get a new perspective of NOLA at Vue Orleans, the city’s only 360-degree observatory, offering stunning views in every direction—with interactive exhibits.
For complimentary group assistance, contact the tourism department at neworleans.com.
Photo Courtesy of Jen Amato/NewOrleans.com
