LUNA Fête Lights Up Downtown Starting Tonight
New Orleans, LA · November 13, 2026
Projection towers are humming around Lafayette Square this morning, which means walking downtown after dark is about to look completely different.
The Lead
The downtown skyline becomes a canvas at dusk as LUNA Fête opens its twelfth season, running every evening through Sunday between 5:00 PM and 10:00 PM. Produced by Arts New Orleans, the free outdoor festival pairs local sound design with international digital artists, projecting monumental video installations across the neoclassical façade of Gallier Hall and throughout Lafayette Square before branching over toward Piazza d'Italia.
Beyond the spectacle of high-lumen lasers and interactive light sculptures, the gathering tests how walkable downtown public corridors function under dense pedestrian foot traffic ahead of peak winter tourism. Crews completed technical walkthroughs late yesterday to coordinate power lines and safe pedestrian lanes, leaving open plaza pathways designed for easy movement. Strollers and leashed dogs are welcome, and the lights switch on promptly at five.
Local Pulse
RTA Reroutes Five Lines for Marathon Transit Saturday runners across Mid-City will trigger morning detours on the Canal streetcar and four neighborhood bus routes.
Council Finalizes Property Tax Adjustments for 2027 City Hall Lawmakers are locking in departmental spending caps after voters approved stricter limits on annual municipal budget overruns.
Family Ties Second Line Rolls Saturday Afternoon Community Brass bands and social clubs take over Uptown streets starting at one o'clock, creating brief rolling traffic delays.
Today's Outlook
- High 69°F · Low 50°F — Overcast
- Grab a light layer before heading out to stay comfortable under the cool, overcast skies.
What's On Around Town
Today
New Orleans Arts & Ideas Festival New Orleans Jazz Museum (400 Esplanade Ave), 9:00 AM–6:00 PM · $55 Panels, letterpress printing workshops, and an evening brass-band second line.
Market Music: Jeff Greenberg French Market, 2:00–3:00 PM · Free Live piano melodies and standards along the historic covered market colonnade.
LUNA Fête Lafayette Square, 5:00–10:00 PM · Free Monumental digital projection mapping and interactive light installations illuminating downtown.
Pelicans vs. Memphis Grizzlies Smoothie King Center (1501 Dave Dixon Dr), 7:00 PM · Paid Western Conference hoops action live on the home hardwood.
Tomorrow
- New Orleans Marathon & Fit Fête City Park, 6:00 AM · Paid
- Pelicans vs. Denver Nuggets Smoothie King Center (1501 Dave Dixon Dr), 6:00 PM · Paid
- We Belong Here Music Festival Woldenberg Riverfront Park, 2:00–11:00 PM · Paid
Sunday
- New Orleans Saints vs. Carolina Panthers Caesars Superdome, Noon · Paid
- Soulful Sundays: Becky Lynn Blanca French Market, 2:00–3:00 PM · Free
- Buena Vista Orchestra House of Blues (225 Decatur St), 7:00 PM · Paid
Spotlight & Story
- The Roots of Music
- Founded in 2007 by Rebirth Brass Band snare drummer Derrick Tabb, this youth program runs five days a week, providing over 30,000 hot meals, 2,500 hours of academic tutoring, and free instrument loans across 23 Orleans Parish schools.
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