A Big Time In The Big Easy For NYE
With all the great places to be for New Year’s Eve, one stands out above all others to me.
New Orleans.
It’s not New York City, it’s not Sydney and it’s not on a tropical beach, but NYE in the Big Easy is a big time. And I’ll tell you why right here.
First of all, it’s New Orleans, where every night is pretty much New Year’s Eve.
Secondly, they have a public fireworks show. It’s at Jackson Square over the Mississippi River.
You can walk around the streets with drinks in your hand. In fact, you can walk up to a window and get drinks to go all over the French Quarter.
It has Bourbon Street.
It hosts the Sugar Bowl, which takes place on New Year’s Day. (Think college football alumni, fans, students, bands, cheerleaders – who-HOO!!!).
An while all that is indeed awesome, the big reason I like the Big Easy for New Year’s Eve is that you don’t have to pay overpriced and outrageous cover charges to get in a bar just because it’s New Year’s Eve.
I hate that in some places. It’s commonplace in cities all over America. Heck in Canada, too. Bars, pubs even neighborhood bars charge $25, $50, $75 or more to walk through the door. Some offer all-you-can-drink but it’s often difficult to get your money’s worth because of an understaffed bar or the drinks are the cheapest beer and booze.
Not so in New Orleans. Heck, there are several places that offer 3-for-1 beers and drinks on Bourbon Street on New Year’s Eve (4-7 in most places). That’s everyday of the year, by the way, and it’s in place on NYE. The problem with that, of course, is you’ve got to pace yourself because it’s a long night!
It’s a carefree experience. Other than a huge line around the block at Pat O’Brien’s, there’s few lines at the bars, so you wander up and down Bourbon Street and go in and out of the bars. There’s live music everywhere, tens of thousands of people on the streets and throwing beads off balconies and a complete party atmosphere.
People are laughing, smiling, dancing, drinking and celebrating.
I like to start out early evening on Bourbon Street, then head over to Jackson Square a little past 11, watch the fireworks (it does get a big crowded there, I’ll point out so you’ve got to have some mental latitude when people bump into you) and then roar back to Bourbon Street after the fireworks.
It’s all very casual, very relaxed and it’s a blast.
In other words, it’s everything New Year’s Eve should be and is not in so many other destinations.
RELATED LINK:
• World’s Top 10 New Year’s Eve Destinations
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