The Big Easy sizzles in the summer, but the city really pops on the Fourth of July, a New Orleans holiday that packs the French Quarter with even more food, music and fun.
This live feed is in New Orleans for the 2011 4th July fireworks:
New Orleans Fireworks live
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Grab a seat along the banks of the Mississippi River for ringside views of the "Dueling Barges," a fireworks bonanza launched from two riverboats as part of the Crescent City's Go 4th on the River celebration. The fireworks display starts around 9 p.m., and is choreographed with a simulcast tribute to patriotic classics.
La Nouvelle-Orléans (New Orleans) was founded May 7, 1718, by the French Mississippi Company, under the direction of Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, on land inhabited by the Chitimacha. It was named for Philippe d'Orléans, Duke of Orléans, who was Regent of France at the time. His title came from the French city of Orléans. The French colony was ceded to the Spanish Empire in the Treaty of Paris (1763). During the American Revolutionary War, New Orleans was an important port to smuggle aid to the rebels, transporting military equipment and supplies up the Mississippi River. Bernardo de Gálvez y Madrid, Count of Gálvez launched the southern campaign against the British from the city in 1779.[14] New Orleans remained under Spanish control until 1801, when it reverted to French control. Nearly all of the surviving 18th century architecture of the Vieux Carré (French Quarter) dates from this Spanish period. (The most notable exception being the Old Ursuline Convent.) Napoleon sold the territory to the United States in the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Thereafter, the city grew rapidly with influxes of Americans, French, Creoles, Irish, Germans and Africans. Major commodity crops of sugar and cotton were cultivated with slave labor on large plantations outside the city.
New Orelans Mardi Gras Louisiana, is a Carnival celebration well-known throughout the world. The New Orleans Carnival season, with roots in preparing for the start of the Christian season of Lent, starts after Twelfth Night, on Epiphany.
This live feed is in New Orleans for the Mardi Gras:
New Orleans Mardi Gras Live Feed
Celebrations are concentrated for about two weeks before and through Fat Tuesday (Mardi Gras in French), the day before Ash Wednesday. Usually there is one major parade each day (weather permitting); many days have several large parades. The largest and most elaborate parades take place the last five days of the season. In the final week of Carnival, many events large and small occur throughout New Orleans and surrounding communities. The parades in New Orleans are organized by Carnival krewes.
The celebration of Mardi Gras was brought to Louisiana by early French settlers. The first record of the holiday being celebrated in Louisiana was at the mouth of the Mississippi River in what is now lower Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, on March 3, 1699. Iberville, Bienville, and their men celebrated it as part of an observance of Catholic practice. Each year the Mardi Gras (or Carnival) season starts on January 6, also known as Twelfth Night. The Twelfth Night Revelers, one of Carnival's oldest Krewes, holds a masked ball each year to mark the occasion. Many of Carnival's oldest groups such as the Elves of Oberon and the High Priests of Mithras hold masked balls, but do not parade in public.
New Years parties in New Orleans live up to the partying image of this fabled city on the Mississippi River. The city is such a popular tourist attraction and is known for so many things that the 2011 New Years events in New Orleans will be only one part of the year-round party schedule.
This live feed is in New Orleans for the New Year's Eve celebrations:
New Orleans NYE Fireworks Live
Event Information:
One of the biggest New Orleans New Years Eve events is the Street Party in the French Quarter. There is a fireworks display at midnight and all of the clubs and bars in the districts open early and stay open late. As you might imagine a throng of people descend upon the French Quarter to ring in the holiday and take New Years photos of the show. As such, be prepared for congestion. This is the meeting place for one of the largest New Years parties in New Orleans. Rather than attempting to take a car into the chaos, opt for public transport or a taxi. Besides the many New Years parties in New Orleans that take place in luxury hotels and restaurants, and inside bars and homes, several popular events open to the general public are a great option. The Street Party is one of the best in the city.
For another flavor of the city on the big night head down to Decatur Street in front of Jackson Square for the NOLA New Year’s Eve celebration.
