Frenchmen Street

A street much more loved by locals in comparison to Bourbon, Frenchmen Street holds a lot of traditions dear to New Orleans’ heart. A great mix of camaraderie, music, Creole architecture and food, as well as installments of other cultures, Frenchmen Street is always alive with the spirit of New Orleans.

Aways down the river from the French Quarter, Frenchmen Street lies in “Faubourg Marigny”. Faubourg Marigny was a suburb created by Marquis Bernard de Marigny, a Creole man himself, which originally served as a housing area for colored mistresses of other white Creole men in the early 19th century. Frenchmen Street itself flourished during the beginning of the 21st century with a great number of live music venues.

Because of these Creole influenced beginnings, Frenchmen Street is full of Creole architecture. Many of the clubs, bars, and cafes are found in Creole Style Townhouses. Characteristics of this style include balconies and basic two to four story structure. Also, it includes features such as arched windows. These can be seen on the building of Maison, a popular jazz venue on Frenchmen Street.

Frenchmen Street is infamous for the countless live music acts nightly. Most of the venues feature jazz, such as previously mentioned Maison as well as Snug Harbor. Acts such as Charmaine Neville and Friends play at Snug Harbor, which is the act you can find there tonight. Here is a video of a previous visit of Charmaine Neville and Friends to Snug Harbor:

However, other styles of music can be found at places such as Cafe Negril, which features more reggae focused music. Margie Perez can be found playing at Cafe Negril this Wednesday, the 30th. Here is a video of a previous visit of Margie to Cafe Negril:

In contrast to popular Bourbon Street, Frenchmen Street has more local culture as opposed to a more monopolized tourist industry taste. Also, a little detail includes Frenchmen’s lack of bright and flashing lights, all the music clubs utilizing wooden signs. One more thing, Frenchmen Street will be kinder to your wallet. Instead of asking for a door price, most bands ask for donations to a man named “Philip”. This is a play on words, which really is asking you to “fill”-”up” the tip jar. Please be generous when tipping, as this is how most of the bands get paid.

Food is not far out of reach on Frenchmen Street. It is stock full of culturally enhanced cafes and restaurants, which serve both Creole food as well as Thai, Middle Eastern, and Italian food for example.

All in all, Frenchmen Street represents a lot of Creole culture as it has come to terms with other cultures around it. It holds true to many Creole traditions, but allows other cultures to take their individual stylings as well.