PHOTOS: New Orleans Jazz Fest 2025 Begins With John Fogerty, Goose, Karl Denson, More

The 2025 edition of the long-running New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, often referred to simply as Jazz Fest, kicked off on Thursday with performances by John Fogerty, Goose, Seun Kuti & Egypt 80, Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe, Jon Cleary & the Absolute Monster Gentlemen, Delfeayo Marsalis & the Uptown Jazz Orchestra, Sam Bush, Shemekia Copeland, Hot 8 Brass Band, Dee Dee Bridgewater with Bill Charlap, John Mooney & Bluesiana, Rockin’ Dopsie Jr. & The Zydeco Twisters, Bonerama, Flagboy Giz & The Wild Tchoupitoulas, Little Freddie King Blues Band, The Iceman Special, Anna Moss, and many, many more across 14 different stages and tents. Click below to view the full list of New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival performers from Thursday, April 24th, 2025

Thursday, April 25th, 2025 – Music Lineup

John Fogerty, Goose, Seun Kuti & Egypt 80, Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe, Jon Cleary & the Absolute Monster Gentlemen, Delfeayo Marsalis & the Uptown Jazz Orchestra, Sam Bush, Shemekia Copeland, Hot 8 Brass Band, Dee Dee Bridgewater with Bill Charlap, John Mooney & Bluesiana, Rockin’ Dopsie Jr. & The Zydeco Twisters, Bonerama, Flagboy Giz & The Wild Tchoupitoulas, Little Freddie King Blues Band, The Iceman Special, Flow Tribe, Mitch Woods & His Rocket 88’s, Papa Mali’s Shantytown Underground, Ray Boudreaux, Waylon Thibodeaux, Cedric Watson et Bijou Creole, Kinfolk Brass Band, Jeremy Davenport, Jazz Fest Celebrates Mexico: Grupo Fantasma, Mixanteña de Santa Cecilia, Son del Coamil, El Dusty, and Mariachi en Nueva Orleans Los Viajeros, Robert Jon & The Wreck, Lisa Knowles-Smith & The Brown Singers, Gerald French & The Original Tuxedo Jazz Band, Leroy Jones & New Orleans Finest, Jeffery Broussard & the Creole Cowboys, Ann Savoy & Another Heart, Gregg Martinez & the Delta Kings with guest Johnnie Allan, Dave Jordan & the NIA, The Pfister Sisters’ Tribute to The Boswell Sisters, Stanton Moore featuring David Torkanowsky and James Singleton, Denisia, LeTrainiump, Sabine McCalla, The Mid-City Aces, Prophetess Flora and The Angels of Light Gospel Singers, Anna Moss, Los Tremolo Kings feat. Margie Perez, Papo y Son Mandao, Black Foot Hunters Mardi Gras Indians, Sons of Jazz Brass Band, Caesar Brothers FunkBox, Lyle Henderson & Emmanu-EL, Melvin “Maestro” Winfield Jr. & The Glory Chorale Community Choir, Andy J. Forest & The Swampcrawlers, Charlie Halloran, Ryan Foret & Foret Tradition, Big Chief Dow & the Timbuktu Warriors Black Masking Indians, Audrey Ferguson & The Voices of Distinction, Native Nations Intertribal, The Tangiers Combo, Stephen Foster & the New Orleans Jazz Ramblers, Kid Charleroi, One Mind Brass Band, Lady Pigeon Town Steppers and Bad Boyz Social Aid & Pleasure Clubs (SA&PCs), Kid Simmons’ Local International Allstars, Roderick Harper, Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church Mass Choir, Joanna Hale-McGill, Loyola University New Orleans Jazz Ensemble, Cheyenne, Black Mohawk, and Young Seminole Hunters Mardi Gras Indians, Tchefunky Playground, Andrews Brass Band, Ice Divas and Nkrumah Better Boys SA&PCs, Lady Chops, Gray Hawk presents Native American Lore, Forgotten Souls, The Bester Singers, The Dynamic Smooth Family of Slidell, Lady Tambourine, Mary McLeod Bethune Elementary School Jazz Orchestra and Performing Arts Ensemble, ISL Circus Arts Kids

View 4/24/25 Artist Lineup

Of note, Goose’s headlining set on the Shell Gentilly Stage was just the beginning of an eventful evening for the Connecticut-native jam band: At midnight, hours after the band’s Jazz Fest debut, Goose released its latest studio album, Everything Must Go. Soon after the album hit streaming services, band members Rick Mitarotonda, Peter Anspach, and Cotter Ellis hit the stage at The Joy Theater with The Disco Biscuits‘ Marc Brownstein and Aron Magner for a late-night show billed as Foie Gras & CrumpUntz to help kick off Live For Live Music’s 2025 Fest by Nite series.

We’ll have plenty of on-the-ground coverage from New Orleans Jazz Fest running on Live For Live Music throughout the next two weekends. For now, feast your eyes on the first Fair Grounds photos from the 2025 festival via photographer Ron Valle (scroll down for gallery). Download a PDF copy of the 2025 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival daily music schedule here.

If you’re in New Orleans, make sure to check out Live For Live Music’s Fest by Nite concert series taking place at venues around the city like The Joy Theater, Toulouse Theatre, and Tipitina’s throughout Jazz Fest’s 2025 run (Thursday, April 24th–Sunday, May 4th). This year’s Fest by Nite series features 20+ evening and late-night shows following each night Jazz Fest and during the “Daze Between,” when our two-day Daze Between New Orleans soiree at the Mahalia Jackson Theater (Tuesday, 4/29 and Wednesday, 4/30) will once again keep the party going while the main event takes a midweek break. Find a calendar of upcoming Fest by Nite concerts here or explore what’s happening on an interactive map via the tryply app.