The French Quarter in New Orleans is a global and national destination. It’s been ranked in the Top 10 of places to visit worldwide. New Orleans ranks among the Top Three attractions of all U.S. cities tourists want to visit. Without dispute, it is the No. 1 place to visit in Louisiana, and the biggest state economic driver. Of the more than 19 million visitors who come to New Orleans every year, officials estimate that 90% of them spend time in the French Quarter.
All of our scores of city neighborhoods are important in different ways. Some of them are economic drivers and places that tourists want to visit while they’re here. But, by far, the French Quarter is the neighborhood that draws the most attention, the most visitors and the most money. It stands to reason that the Quarter would get a lot of attention.
Visitors expect and see some things that make them put us on their bucket lists, to help them choose to visit here over cities in California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, etc. Each has nice places to visit, but there’s only one New Orleans and only one French Quarter.
Of course, that special neighborhood deserves special attention. Those who live there deserve attention. Those who operate businesses there deserve attention.
And those who visit there deserve attention.
Parts of Bourbon and Conti Streets went dark Saturday, July 4, 2026, after and underground transformer exploded. Parts of the French Quarter have been evacuated by 11:30 p.m. STAFF PHOTO BY SOPHIA GERMER
Some things caused some Essence Fest consternation — and it wasn’t the fault of Essence.
Whether you live in New Orleans or nearby, you’re well aware that there have been some issues with Decatur Street and nearby streets. What was supposed to be a five-month Sewerage & Water Board of New Orleans project to repair 115-year-old water transmission lines, which started in September 2025, was expected to finish in late February. Ten months later, it’s still not done.
Locals have been frustrated by delays and a French Quarter runaround caused by barricades, barriers and detours, making it harder to navigate familiar routes and streets. Imagine what that was like for Essence Festival visitors who decided to leave the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center or the Caesars Superdome, where festival events were held, and explore the city’s most famous neighborhood. Even tourists who have developed favorite restaurants and watering holes were frustrated and inconvenienced.
Patti LaBelle, as seen on stage screen, performs on the second night of the 2026 Essence Festival of Culture at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans on Saturday, July 4, 2026.
Now, imagine those who knew hotel accommodations during Essence Festival are at a premium well before the annual event so they lock down rooms for multiple nights at hotels where they can enjoy what the French Quarter has to offer, including a short walk to the major daytime Essence activities. That includes The Royal Sonesta on Bourbon Street.
The hotel had an emergency evacuation on the Fourth of July. New Orleans Police Department cleared the hotel at Conti Street as Entergy and the New Orleans Fire Department rushed to determine what caused an underground explosion. Essies staying at the hotel had to interrupt their festival plans to move out, mostly to places that weren’t expecting them.
At a post-festival news conference Monday, Essence thanked the hotel and New Orleans first responders for quickly taking care of their festival attendees.
Times-Picayune columnist Will Sutton on Thursday, September 12, 2019.
Fortunately, so many more Essies from out of town were staying elsewhere.
We are used to inconvenient construction projects that take too long to fix, boil water advisories, street lights that don’t operate properly when it rains and regular flooding without serious storms. It’s not as though we like things like this, but perhaps we’ve become numb to these things that are also a part of our culture.
But think about our visitors from places where the streets are fixed in days or weeks, where they don’t know what a boil water advisory is, where street lights are updated with the latest technologies regularly and where flooding is something they see on television.
Certainly, we want a better city, and that takes work, sometimes long periods of work.
But as we continue to supply the state of Louisiana with so much economic revenue, let’s keep in mind that New Orleans investments aren’t only for New Orleanians; all of Louisiana benefits.
