Sampling French Quarter Fest 2026

I lucked into being in New Orleans for French Quarter Fest 2026. My body might not be up for an all night drunk fest but lots of music and food and people watching was just what the doctor ordered.

I did not even get on my bicycle the entire day, believe it or not. Laundry came first. After a week of packing riding clothes into the bottom of a pannier, the EPA was lookin’ for me. Thankfully, the washing machine did its goodness and everything smells just fine again. Then I got to use Zoom to participate in my synagogue’s weekly Torah study. I could not Zoom in last week because I was riding south out of Cape Girardeau and missed the learning and banter that is a regular part of my week. I thank the COVID-19 pandemic for prevalent Zoom access to learning.

After that, Uber took me down to the French Quarter.

Gaby had sent me on two missions: Central Grocery for a Muffuletta and Cafe du Monde for beignets. I’m a Good Doobie so off I went to Central Grocery for lunch. Muffulettas come in two sizes: full or half. Full is the size of a basketball court. Half looks like it would feed a family of four. There was no way that I could eat a half all by myself. Could I buy a quarter? No. Believe it or not, the woman checking out at the cash register to my left turned to me and said, “You should take half of mine.” I was like, “Really? Sure!” We did the deal right there in front of the cash registers, my cash for her food. That muffuletta was so tasty!

Next mission was to find Cafe du Monde and beignets. The place was packed and the line for take out was a mile long. As I stood there trying to figure out how to find a table, the folks at the table right next to me stood up to leave. Bingo! I sat down. A few minutes later I was feasting on the most heavenly combo of fresh-from-the-fryer beignets smothered in powdered sugar and iced coffee. Yeah, you’re right. Just reading that sentence has cost you 1000 calories and 5 pounds. Just think of the agony I went through when I had to eat them.

Before I dive into the photos that I shot, I want to take a moment for two serious moments that caught me up short.

I found myself walking past the New Orleans Holocaust Memorial. It was situated behind one of the main music stages and, because of the way things were laid out, it had been used as part of the crowd control barrier. It was emotionally unsettling to see a Holocaust memorial abutted with police fencing. Is the fence keeping people out? Or keeping people in?

I found the Monument to the Immigrant just a little ways on. This struck me as particularly ironic. I know that it honors everyone who had the courage and strength the migrate. But the other way to read that inscription is that we immigrants to America have erected a monument to ourselves for successfully displacing the Native Peoples.

I regularly push myself photographically. My challenge on this day was to do some street photography. I do not think that I have any award winning shots but I am pleased with my first attempt. Here are a few that are worth sharing.

Some of these photos may be too tall or wide for your screen. If one is, just click/tap on it. You will get a pop-up which is correctly sized so that you can see the whole image.

This first was a challenge to keep all of the wonderful skin tones on the woman’s face without losing the sky into white.

I laughed when I saw this woman. I guess if you forget your face mask, you can use your sunglasses.

The last woman saw me take her picture. She and I got to smile at each other across the street.

After this work, I had one more mission to complete. Brigitte had instructed me to get a praline before leaving New Orleans. This was one instruction that I absolutely had to fulfill in its entirety. And it was delicious.

I was passing a schoolyard with a youth choir doing a fundraiser. That netted me some Jamaican jerk rice ‘n’ peas, steamed veggies, and fried plantains. Oh so good.

After all of that food, it was a good thing that the calorie-burning bicycle awaited me.