Coffee Near City Park & Jazz Fest in New Orleans
Coffee Near City Park
& Jazz Fest
Witches Brew Coffee Co. · The Mid-City coffee shop on the route
City Park is 1,300 acres of NOLA that most tourists never see. It is the largest urban park in the country, bigger than Central Park, and almost nobody knows that. The New Orleans Museum of Art is inside it. The Botanical Garden is inside it. Storyland and the historic Carousel Gardens are inside it. The Fair Grounds Race Course — where Jazz Fest happens every spring — is a fifteen-minute walk from its southern edge.
And the coffee situation for visiting it is honestly underwhelming. You can get coffee inside NOMA. You can get coffee at the Fair Grounds during Jazz Fest itself, expensive and in a paper cup. What you cannot easily do is land somewhere off-site for a real coffee — before you go, after you leave, on a break in the middle.
This is where Mid-City helps. We're at the western edge of the City Park / Fair Grounds zone, fifteen minutes on foot from NOMA's main entrance, and about the same from the Fair Grounds entrance during Jazz Fest. Most years, our shop is the closest specialty coffee to the Fair Grounds that isn't a festival concession stand.
If You're Going to City Park
City Park's main entrance is at City Park Avenue and Lelong Drive — the side closest to NOMA, the Botanical Garden, and the sculpture garden. The Esplanade entrance is the one closer to Bayou St. John.
From Witches Brew at 2940 Canal Street: about a fifteen-minute walk straight up North Carrollton Avenue to the main City Park entrance. The Canal streetcar (City Park / Museum line) runs the same route if you don't want to walk. Get on at Galvez and ride three stops to the end.
We open daily at 8 AM, which is earlier than the park, NOMA, or the Botanical Garden opens. Start here, walk over for the day, come back for an iced drink when you're done.
If You're Going to Jazz Fest
Jazz Fest at the Fair Grounds is two weekends every spring (typically the last weekend of April and the first weekend of May — check the festival's official site for that year's exact dates). It runs from about 11 AM to 7 PM each day. It is a long day in the sun.
From Witches Brew, the Fair Grounds Race Course is roughly a fifteen-to-twenty minute walk. Down North Carrollton, right on Esplanade, and you're at the Fair Grounds. The Esplanade entrance to Jazz Fest is the closer one.
We are deliberately on the route. People come in before the gates open, get a cold-brew, get water, eat something, then walk over. Or they come in after they leave the Fair Grounds, exhausted, sunburned, and looking to sit somewhere quiet for thirty minutes before figuring out how to get home.
Both of those work for us. We are not a festival venue and we are not loud. We are an actually-quiet coffee shop ten minutes from the loudest two weekends of the year.
The Pre- & Post-Festival Reality Check
If you are spending all day in the sun at Jazz Fest, two things to know.
Don't start the day with three cups of espresso. The dehydration will catch up with you by 2 PM. Order something cold and easier to keep drinking water alongside. The iced matcha latte is a more sustainable caffeine source than a triple espresso for an outdoor day, and the bar is good at that drink.
Most people don't think they want coffee after Jazz Fest. They want a chair, a quiet room, and a bathroom that isn't a portable toilet. We have those. The coffee is optional. The chair, water, and clean bathroom are the actual product. For more on what we pour generally, see our coffee guide.
The Neighborhood Beyond the Festival
City Park is also there the other fifty weeks of the year, and Mid-City coffee culture exists year-round, not just during Jazz Fest. The Botanical Garden is open year-round. The Sculpture Garden at NOMA is free, year-round. The Lafitte Greenway connects Mid-City to the French Quarter on foot or bike, year-round. The cypresses around the lagoons are some of the most photographable trees in the South.
If you are visiting New Orleans and have skipped Mid-City because nobody on Bourbon Street suggested it, this is the neighborhood you skipped. Come look at it.
Questions, Answered
Is there coffee near Jazz Fest at the Fair Grounds?
Inside the festival, coffee is a concession — expensive and in a paper cup. Witches Brew Coffee Co. is roughly a fifteen-to-twenty minute walk from the Fair Grounds, and most years it's the closest specialty coffee that isn't a festival stand.
How far is Witches Brew from City Park?
About a fifteen-minute walk straight up North Carrollton Avenue from 2940 Canal Street to the main City Park entrance — or ride the Canal streetcar (City Park / Museum line) three stops from Galvez to the end.
When is Jazz Fest?
Two weekends every spring, typically the last weekend of April and the first weekend of May, running from about 11 AM to 7 PM each day. Check the festival's official site for the year's exact dates.
What time does Witches Brew open?
8 AM, every day — earlier than the park, NOMA, or the Botanical Garden opens. The shop stays open until 6 PM.
Come Find Us Before, After, or Instead
Mid-City coffee on the way to City Park and the Fair Grounds. Open daily 8 AM – 6 PM. Iced drinks ready for the walk.
See the Menu ✦ Witches Brew Coffee Co. · 2940 Canal St, Mid-City · Open Daily 8 AM – 6 PM