Bourbon Street

Bourbon Street is a street in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana, famous for its nightlife, music venues and bars. It is one of the city’s best-known entertainment streets and a focal point of festival activity.

The street is lined with clubs, bars, restaurants and performance venues concentrated over multiple blocks in the French Quarter, with live jazz, brass bands and open-front bars common along its length. Nighttime activity is lively year-round, and the street is a central artery for Mardi Gras and other large public events.

The architecture is characterful 18th- and 19th-century urban fabric with wrought-iron balconies and close-set buildings that host street-level entertainment. Walking the blocks of Bourbon Street provides immediate access to a concentrated music and hospitality scene.

Bourbon Street dates to the colonial era of New Orleans and was named for the ruling House of Bourbon when the city was laid out in the early 18th century; it developed over centuries into an entertainment and cultural district. The street’s present-day reputation for music and nightlife is the result of long-standing local musical traditions and commercial development in the French Quarter.

Bourbon Street runs through the heart of the French Quarter in downtown New Orleans, Louisiana, immediately adjacent to the Mississippi River and centered within the city’s historic core.

• Peak times: Nighttime and festival periods such as Mardi Gras and Jazz Fest see the highest crowds and live music activity along the street.