How find 90 free shows in New Orleans this week

Catch up quick: Greenebaum remembers watching in August 2021 as Jazz Fest, Buku, Fried Chicken Fest and French Quarter Fest fell like dominoes with canceled fall events.

• Watching the headlines unfurl in real time, Greenebaum more or less managed to gather support for NOLAxNOLA (pronounced "NOLA by NOLA") in the time it took him to fly from New Orleans to Chicago.
• By the time it landed, a meeting of venue managers had been set up for the next day at Preservation Hall, he says.

Five years later, NOLAxNOLA still brings together musicians and venues that otherwise compete for the same audiences.

• "In this one," Greenebaum says, "we're all together."

By the numbers: The 2025 edition, which begins Thursday and runs through Oct. 5, ties together 340 shows under one banner.

• Plus, 90 of them are free.

What he's saying: "Every genre, every neighborhood, every night," Greenebaum says.

• And "we are just throwing as many guests on each of these shows, so if you go, your mind will get blown."

The big picture: With Voodoo Fest's seemingly final edition in 2019, New Orleans lost a major event anchor for the fall season.

• But Greenebaum, who once co-directed that fest, hopes NOLAxNOLA can help fill its gap.
• "We want to create a lot of energy in the fall and ultimately be that thing that replaces Voodoo or complements whatever that next thing is to replace Voodoo," he says.

Go deeper: Full NOLAxNOLA schedule.