Jazz Fest, The Best All Ages Music Festival... I Think So

Most festivals today are designed with an obvious audience in mind. You can usually tell who they are as soon as you see the lineup.

Jazz Fest has never operated that way.

At its core, Jazz Fest is generational. It is one of the few festivals where the experience is shaped by the fact that people of all ages are meant to be there together. Every year I have gone I have created lifelong memories that only the dusty grounds hold. It is unique in this way. As many other festivals are catering to certain audiences, Jazz Fest has always operated to the beat of its own drum.

The 2026 lineup reflects this clearly. Not because of any single headliner, but because of the range of artists and what they represent. The festival is not choosing between legacy and relevance. The lineup has something for everyone.

Anderson Paak- 2024

The Eagles are a good example of that. For me, their music is tied to childhood. I grew up listening to them with my dad on the drive to school, singing Hotel California at full volume as we pulled into the carpool line. They are truly a classic and here to please the festival dads.

Micheal Franti - 2024

Stevie Nicks fits into that same idea in a different way. She has been an icon for decades, but her music continues to resonate because it is thoughtful and emotionally sharp. Her writing feels like poetry. People do not grow out of her work. The rest of the roster reinforces the same point. Earth, Wind and Fire, Nas, Tyler Childers, Lorde, Ziggy Marley some of my personal favorites and just add to such a diverse roster. Artists like these are some that shaped my love for music, some shared by my parents, others shaping my life as I grow up. They channel what the festival embodies, a little bit of everything for everyone.

2022

The Revivalists, Crowe Boys, Big Freedia, Trombone Shorty, Irma Thomas and more represent the idea that local connection is not a footnote. It is part of the festival's identity. What connects them is not genre but feeling. They all are New Orleans natives establishing that NOLA is THE music city. The kind of funk that New Orleans has always defined on its own terms.

Lumineers - 2023

Being at Jazz Fest you are surrounded by locals who treat it like a ritual and visitors who quickly understand why. When you walk through the Fair Grounds, the generational structure becomes visible. Some veterans goers get there early and set up their Tommy Bahama folding chairs. Parents with kids explaining that the Eagles are also a famous rock band, not just the ones from Philadelphia. Younger crowds frolicking and just with their friends having the absolute best time.

Jazz Fest does not chase trends or try to reinvent itself. It stays rooted in connection with people, music, and its city.