New Orleans · Month comparison

February vs April

April ranks #1 overall vs February at #8. Jazz Fest weekend (late April): the city's other peak event — 500,000 people, 12 stages, the best live music in America.

New Orleans February — Mardi Gras beads and masks on Bourbon Street

February

#8 of 12 months

Strong option

Mardi Gras: the greatest free street party in North America. Also the most expensive hotel week of the year.

  • ↑Mardi Gras Indian tribes — the Black Masking Indians in their hand-sewn beaded suits are one of the most extraordinary cultural spectacles in the United States; catch them on Super Sunday or Fat Tuesday itself
  • ↑Rex and Zulu parades on Fat Tuesday transform St Charles Avenue into a city-wide celebration that has no equivalent anywhere in America
New Orleans April — Louis Armstrong statue near Jazz Fest at the Fairgrounds

April

#1 of 12 months

Best match

Jazz Fest weekend (late April): the city's other peak event — 500,000 people, 12 stages, the best live music in America.

  • ↑New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (last weekend of April, first of May): 12 stages at the Fairgrounds with everyone from local brass bands to international headliners — the world's greatest concentrated live music event
  • ↑26°C and low humidity: the single most comfortable weather window of the year for outdoor eating, walking, and the festival grounds
FactorFebruaryApril
Weather score
6
8
Value score
2
5
Crowd score
2
4
Events score
10
9
Atmosphere
10
9
Avg high temp18.3°C26.4°C
Monthly rain105mm105mm
Daily sunshine6.5hrs7.8hrs

February trade-offs

  • ↓Hotels cost 3–5× their off-season rate during Mardi Gras week; book six months out or accept staying outside the city
  • ↓Bourbon Street crowds during peak nights are genuinely dangerous in the crush — French Quarter requires planning and exits
  • ↓If Mardi Gras falls in February (it moves each year), some of the city shuts down for the holiday; check dates carefully

April trade-offs

  • ↓Jazz Fest weekend: hotels within 20 blocks of the Fairgrounds sell out months in advance; prices spike 60–80%
  • ↓The city is genuinely packed during both festival weekends — book Commander's Palace, Dooky Chase, or Cochon weeks out
  • ↓105mm of rain: April showers are real — the Fairgrounds becomes muddy in wet years; bring boots
See all 12 months for New Orleans →February in detail →April in detail →
Scores compare months within New Orleans. Climate data: Open Meteo ERA5 30-year normals (1991–2020). Methodology →