There’s no better way to celebrate the peak of crawfish season in New Orleans than The NOLA Crawfish Festival. From Monday, April 29 to Wednesday, May 1, visitors can indulge in crawfish, music, and beer from 3pm to 10pm at The Broadside. This year’s festival will include an additional performance stage, a crawfish eating contest, and 10+ musical guests and counting. The Crawfish Festival is absolutely one of our favorite things to do between Jazz Fest weekends every year. It is the perfect place to enjoy great food, music and margaritas and chill out for the evenings.
The Broadside, an outdoor venue in Mid City is an 18+ venue. The location just underwent some amazing renovations, including a new kitchen, spacious covered seating areas, and a new indoor stage. The venue has its own parking lot and nearby street parking available. The event will be rain or shine, but the venue does have multiple spots where guests could take cover from the rain if needed.
Held during the days between Jazz Fest, the NOLA Crawfish Festival has become a tradition for locals and travelers to take part in dining on a crustacean that has fed New Orleans for centuries. For 7 years, the festival brings all guests a distinct backyard boil vibe with local musical legends and boiled crawfish by the NOLA Crawfish King, Chris “Shaggy” Davis.
Among the slew of activities to take part in will be a crawfish eating contest where hungry contestants will battle to see who can eat the most crawfish in one sitting. There will also be a 20-team crawfish cook-off judged by local celebrities to find if anyone can beat the Crawfish King. Booths will be set up around the venue featuring unique Louisiana Arts and Crafts vendors, showcasing the talent and creativity that makes up this special city.
In 2024 the festival added an additional stage, now having two stages where special musical guests will perform for festival goers. The current line up is as follows:
Monday – April 29th, 2024
- Eric Krasno & Friends feat. Ivan Neville, Tony Hall & Raymond Weber and special Guest Anders Osborne
- Iko Allstars Play JGB
- Kapow! feat. Kevin Scott, Ari Teitel, Jamison Ross, Jennifer Hartswick and Swatkins
- Zita
- Luther Dickinson, Artist-at-Large
Tuesday – April 30th, 2024
- Tab Benoit
- The Lost Bayou Ramblers (feat. Luther Dickinson and more)
- Ed William’s RumpleSTEELskin (feat. members of The Revivalists)
- Dave Jordan’s Almost Acoustic Trio
- Luther Dickinson, Artist-at-Large
Wednesday – May 1st, 2024
- Jon Cleary & The Absolute Monster NCF Allstars (feat. The AMGs PLUS a tribute to Snooks Eaglin with George Porter, Jr., John Boutté and more special guests TBA)
- George Porter, Jr. & Runnin’ Pardners
- John Boutté
- River Eckert Band
New this year is the official NCF After Party. Starting at 10:30pm on Tuesday, April 30, DJ A.J. Hall will take the main stage mixing some classic and rare grooves from the late 70’s and early 80’s. Be sure to stick around for some after-boil fun. Tickets for the event are $20 and can be purchased online or at the festival.
Don’t worry, it’s not too late to buy tickets to Crawfish Fest. There are 5 different ticket options, 3 of which are VIP experience tickets. The three different tiers of VIP tickets include accommodations like endless crawfish, a private bar, unlimited water and soft drinks, no wait entrances, and complimentary entry to the After Party. If you’re looking for a more casual experience, single day general admission tickets are available for $60 and three-day general admission tickets are available for $165.