New Orleans Nightlife

New Orleans has it all. The most well-known district is the French Quarter, centering on Bourbon Street. This is more a magnet for tourists than for locals and there is everything from strip shows (and more, towards the western end) to bars featuring blues, jazz and Cajun music. Across Esplanade Avenue at the eastern end of the French Quarter is a much more sedate nightlife hotspot - Faubourg Marigny.

Jazz is generally considered to be a New Orleans' creation and the city is constantly buzzing with music. There are dozens of live venues, as well as numerous jazz trumpeters and other buskers on the streets. Bars and clubs throughout the city are permitted to remain open 24 hours and it is one of the few places in the US where alcohol can be consumed on the street provided it is in a plastic container. The legal minimum drinking and gambling age is 21 years. As in most large US cities, the distinction between bars, clubs and live music venues is often blurred.

The daily newspaper Times-Picayune (website: www.nola.com), lists nightlife events - a section on Friday covers the weekend highlights. The monthly publication Offbeat, and the weekly Gambit both are free newspapers with nightlife listings. The monthly New Orleans Magazine (website: www.neworleansmagazine.com) also lists and reviews entertainment in the city. Inside New Orleans (website: http://neworleans.cox.net/cci/entertainment) is an up-to-date and savvy Internet site, while Gambit's affiliated online outfit (website: www.bestofneworleans.com/) also posts weekly nightlife events.

Bars: The Old Absinthe House, 240 Bourbon Street, opened in 1806, may no longer serve absinthe but for a historical artefact it is youthful in atmosphere. The Bombay Club, located in the Prince Conti Hotel, 830 Conti Street, is for those who prefer a more upmarket venue with a little live music, with cocktails served in the wood-panelled interior. Pat O'Briens, 718 St Peter Street, is a New Orleans drinking institution and the place to try the famous and very potent Hurricane cocktail (rum, orange juice, pineapple juice and grenadine).

Napoleon House, 500 Chartres Street, a fantastic French Quarter venue that features the Pimm's Cup, has been around since 1914. The eclectic décor has attracted the likes of Nicolas Cage and Matt Dillon. For the feel of an English gentlemen's club, visit the cigar-friendly Polo Club Lounge at Windsor Court Hotel, 300 Gravier Street. The other-worldly is evident at the candlelit Loa in the International Hotel, 221 Camp Street. It has an 'interactive altar'. New Orleans' finest pianist, John Autin, tickles the ivories at the revolving Carousel Bar in the Montelone Hotel.

Clubs: Jazz clubs are a dime a dozen in this city. Palm Court Jazz Café, 1204 Decatur Street (website: www.palmcourtjazzcafe.com), is a traditional New Orleans jazz club with a mahogany bar and good food. Donna's Bar and Grill, 800 North Rampart Street (website: www.donnasbarandgrill.com), is on the northern edge of the French Quarter and is where locals go to eat, drink and to listen to brass band music. Snug Harbor, 626 Frenchmen Street (website: www.snugjazz.com), in the Faubourg Marigny, is run by vocalist Charmaine Neville and pianist Ellis Marsalis (father of Wynton and Branford); the restaurant, which is separate from the music venue, is renowned for its hamburgers and shrimp Creole.

To dance to sounds other than jazz, clubbers head for Ampersand, 1100 Tulane Avenue (website: www.clubampersand.com), located in a former CBD bank. This is a popular club that attracts a young financial-industry crowd, with its cocktails and the latest in house and techno. Saturday is theme party night with a drink-all-night cover. Listen or dance to music ranges from jazz to Latin at the funky Café Brasil, 2100 Chartres Street. The French Quarter's Oz, Bourbon Street (website: www.ozneworleans.com), is the city's best dance club and attracts a mostly gay clientele.

Live Music: Tipitina's, 501 Napoleon Avenue, Uptown at 233 North Peters Street (website: www.tipitinas.com), is another city institution, featuring music from New Orleans and beyond. Come early and queue for entrance to the legendary Preservation Hall, 726 St Peter Street (website: www.preservationhall.com), where guests sit on the floor, if they must, to catch musicians trained in the 'Louis Armstrong school.' Kerry Irish Pub, 331 Decatur Street (website: www.kerryirishpub.com) features Rites of Passage, a local band. House of Blues, 225 Decatur Street (website: www.hob.com), covers many musical genres, from blues and funk to rock and country. It is now one in a chain of restaurant-clubs, owned in part by comedian Dan Aykroyd, who starred in The Blues Brothers (1980).

New Orleans is one of the most 'European' cities in America, drawing cultural influences from its early Spanish and French settlers (the Creole) and French migrants, exiled from Nova Scotia in the 18th century - the Cajuns. Further cultural layers are revealed in the Indian and African influences, Dixieland jazz and the rich and terrifying legacy of voodoo, brought to the city by Haitian slaves.

The biggest cultural event in New Orleans is the annual Mardi Gras, celebrated here like nowhere else on earth. Given that the French Quarter is like an ongoing outdoor party any time of year, one can only imagine what it is like when the extravagant floats and costumes are paraded through the streets and the whole world has descended in search of a good time. There are, however, plenty of choices for those in search of more sedate cultural offerings.

Listings are available from the daily newspaper Times-Picayune (website: www.nola.com/entertainment), the free monthly publication Offbeat (website: www.offbeat.com), as well as from free weekly Gambit and the monthly New Orleans Magazine (website: www.neworleansmagazine.com). Inside New Orleans (website: http://neworleans.cox.net/cci/entertainment) is an up-to-date and savvy Internet site, while Gambit's affiliated online outfit (website: www.bestofneworleans.com) also posts weekly cultural events and performances.

Tickets are available for purchase from the venues or from Ticketmaster (tel: (504) 522 5555; website: www.ticketmaster.com), which levies a surcharge per ticket.

Music: The much-lauded Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra (tel: (504) 523 6530; website: www.lpomusic.com) performs at various venues. The New Orleans Opera Association will be performing at McAlister Auditorium on Tulane University's Uptown Campus, and then at the Mahalia Jackson Theater of the Performing Arts, 801 North Rampart Street, in Armstrong Park (tel: (504) 529 36 00; website: www.neworleansopera.org) when it reopens in January, 2009. This theatre, and the Louisiana Superdome (tel: (504) 587 3663; website: www.superdome.com) located on Sugar Bowl Drive, are two of the several venues that stage large-scale concerts. In addition, the New Orleans Arena, 1501 Girod Street (tel: (504) 587 3663; website: www.neworleansarena.com), is another popular venue for concerts.

Theatre: Numerous theatres throughout the city offer everything from avant-garde works to the classics, with a healthy amount of Tennessee Williams, who lived much of his adult life in the Big Easy. The March Tennessee Williams Festival (tel: (504) 581 1144; website: www.tennesseewilliams.net), usually takes place in the French Quarter but the headquarters is located at Le Petit Théâtre, 616 St Peter Street, French Quarter (tel: (504) 522 2081; website: www.lepetittheatre.com). The theatre claims to be the oldest continuously running community theatre in the USA and shows a range of musicals and drama. Musicals, plays and multimedia events are also staged at the two-auditorium Contemporary Arts Center, 900 Camp Street (tel: (504) 528 3800; website: www.cacno.org).

Dance: The New Orleans Ballet (tel: (504) 522 0996; website: www.nobadance.com) performs from September to May at Tulane University's Dixon Hall. The Mahalia Jackson Theatre of the Performing Arts, 801 North Rampart Street in Armstrong Park (tel: (504) 218 0150) is the usual venue for the ballet and will reopen in January 2009.