Event guide · Sun 01 Nov 2026
Mardi Gras 2027: a first-timer's guide to Carnival in New Orleans
Carnival is a season, not a day: it opens on Twelfth Night, Wednesday 6 January 2027, and closes on Mardi Gras Day, Tuesday 9 February. Which days carry it, where to stand, what it costs (nothing, from the street), and what to book first.
What you need to know, in short: Mardi Gras Day, Tuesday 9 February 2027, is the last day of a season that opens on Twelfth Night, Wednesday 6 January. Every parade is free to watch from the street. The densest run is the final stretch, from the Krewe of Muses on Thursday 4 February to Fat Tuesday itself. Most 2027 parade dates are expected dates taken from the official parade schedule and are labelled tentative on this site until each krewe confirms; three parades, Joan of Arc, Chewbacchus and Muses, are already confirmed by their organisers. Mardi Gras Day itself is set by the church calendar, the day before Ash Wednesday, and our listing carries the same tentative label until the City of New Orleans publishes its final parade page.
A season, not a day
The first mistake first-timers make is arriving for one day. Carnival opens on Twelfth Night, 6 January, when the Krewe de Jeanne d'Arc processes through the French Quarter in the evening and the Phunny Phorty Phellows ride the St. Charles streetcar. January belongs to the walking parades in the French Quarter and the Marigny, smaller, closer and stranger than the big floats to come: Krewe du Vieux, on Saturday 23 January, is the one that opens the big parade weekends. Through late January and into February the season moves Uptown, onto the St. Charles Avenue route, and grows: bigger floats, bigger crowds, until the final five days carry more parades than the rest of the season put together. The full season, all of it, is on the Mardi Gras hub, with each parade's date status shown.
The days that carry the season
| Date | Parade | Status | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wed 06 Jan | Joan of Arc Parade | Confirmed | Twelfth Night: the season opens in the French Quarter |
| Sat 23 Jan | Krewe du Vieux | Tentative | The walking parade that opens the big weekends, Quarter and Marigny |
| Thu 04 Feb | Krewe of Muses | Confirmed | Evening, Uptown: the final stretch begins |
| Sat 06 Feb | Krewe of Endymion | Tentative | Mid-City to Caesars Superdome, the biggest single parade |
| Sun 07 Feb | Krewe of Bacchus | Tentative | Evening, Uptown |
| Mon 08 Feb | Proteus and Orpheus | Tentative | Lundi Gras, the night before |
| Tue 09 Feb | Mardi Gras Day | Tentative | Zulu and Rex roll in the morning; Carnival ends at midnight |
If you can only be here once, be here for the final stretch. If you want the season at a gentler pace, come in January, stand on a Quarter corner for a walking parade, and you will understand the city faster than any single big day can teach you.
Where to stand, and what it costs
Watching costs nothing. Find a place on the route, arrive early on the big nights, and the floats, bands and throws come to you; no ticket exists for the street, and nobody needs to sell you one. The big parades roll Uptown on the St. Charles Avenue route; the walking parades move through the French Quarter and the Marigny; Endymion rolls through Mid-City and finishes at Caesars Superdome. If you want a seat and a rail to catch from, paid grandstand and bleacher seating is sold along parts of the Uptown route for the big days, by the stand operators and the krewes rather than by us; each parade's page here links to that krewe's official site, where its seating is announced. Some krewes hold ticketed extras after the parade, best known of them Endymion's Extravaganza at the Superdome on the Saturday night. And if you come outside the season entirely, Mardi Gras World shows the floats being built all year, giant figures and working sculptors in the warehouse where the parades are made.
Where to stay
Where you stay decides which parades are a walk away. For the Uptown route, Muses, Bacchus, Rex and Zulu among them, base yourself Uptown or in the Garden District, with the route at your door and the streetcar for the ride home. For the walking parades, and for Endymion's finish at the Superdome, the French Quarter and the CBD are the walkable bases. Book early: Carnival is the busiest stretch of the New Orleans year, and the final week, 4 to 9 February, books out first. The button below opens the hotel search set to the Garden District; the area guides cover the rest.
Book a place to stayvia Trip.com · affiliate link
Between parades, the rest of the city
Parades roll at set hours, which leaves the mornings for everything else the city does. These are the bookable staples around the parade schedule, sold by Klook at the same price you would pay there direct.
French Quarter Walking Tour
A guided walk through the oldest streets in the city: the courtyards, balconies and stories of the Vieux Carré.
From US$29
Book the walking tourvia Klook · affiliate linkGo City New Orleans Pass
One pass that bundles the city's headline attractions, the Natchez cruise and the WWII Museum among them, for a run of sightseeing days you choose at checkout.
From US$84
Get the passvia Klook · affiliate linkSteamboat Natchez Evening Jazz Cruise
Two hours on the Mississippi aboard an authentic steamboat, with a live jazz band and the city lit up behind you.
From US$58
Book the jazz cruisevia Klook · affiliate linkSources: the New Orleans What's On Carnival dataset, every parade checked against its organiser or the official New Orleans and Company 2027 parade schedule, which notes that dates and final routes are still to be confirmed; the Mardi Gras hub on this site for the season structure, routes and grandstand arrangements. Checked 1 November 2026.
More reading on the articles page, or go straight to the events calendar.