‘No Kings Day’ draws 6,500 into New Orleans streets
Protesters carried handmade signs, chanted slogans, voiced concerns about mounting threats to democracy and billionaire-first politics, and — because it’s New Orleans — they blew bubbles.
Category
In the N.O.
Orleans culture
Her hips uncover the truth about America’s music history
Dancer Chipo Kandake along with New Orleans drumming legend Herlin Riley present a show on Saturday that tells the story of what we call American music, which, she says, started with the Black community.
Only those who have experienced jail can understand the bigger picture
In New Orleans, where incarceration touches nearly every block, jail population counts are much more than numbers – they represent families fractured, futures derailed, and communities under pressure.
The New Orleans jailbreak: crisis, blame, and a system built to break
Some of the loudest voices talking about problems that led to the jailbreak are the same ones who’ve supported underfunding and cuts to social services, education, and mental-health programs—drivers of crime and incarceration in the first place.
Big boots to fill
Anthony Hingle Jr. didn’t touch beads or feathers for 32 years. Now he’s back in town, continuing the work of his father, Flagboy Meathead, a legend among Black Masking Indians.
All in a Carnival’s Pay
High winds on Mardi Gras Day truncated Rex’s route and kept Zulu from downtown New Orleans, taking a toll on business owners and on local school bands, which went unpaid for Zulu and other weather-affected parades. Then Rex announced that it would pay the bands booked for its parade, raising questions about the history of band payments from krewes – and why those payments matter.
The Lens Carnival Edition 2025
Our reporters stayed on their beats, covering how Carnival affects the way New Orleans works - and doesn't work.
Taking in parades together, but apart
New Orleanians maintain certain traditions at Carnival parades. We say hello to strangers, tote wagons and folding chairs and blankets. But along the St. Charles parade route, we most often settle in areas with our people.
Two decades of crotches as canvas
Best known for their merkins – pubic wigs – the Bearded Oysters have now been a symbol of feminist liberation for 20 years, within a few local parades, including Muses
