Congo Square, the Old Mint, and the Rooms Still Playing
Congo Square's overlapping brick circles mark a place where enslaved and free Black people gathered to trade, socialize, drum, make music, and dance. The New Orleans Jazz Museum puts instruments, recordings, photographs, performances, and coin-making exhibits inside the 1838 Old U.S. Mint. Together they give the five live venues a useful starting point.Preservation Hall is a compact, ticketed room founded in 1961. The Spotted Cat brings bands to Frenchmen Street seven days a week. Kermit's Tremé Mother-in-Law Lounge combines Ernie K-Doe's 1994 club with Kermit Ruffins's 2014 reopening. Tipitina's grew from a 1977 room created for Professor Longhair, and the Maple Leaf has hosted jazz, funk, R&B, rock, zydeco, poetry, and carnival gatherings since 1974.The stops span Tremé, the French Quarter, Marigny, Napoleon Avenue, and Oak Street. Congo Square is outdoors, the Jazz Museum has daytime admission, and the five venues use changing calendars, covers, tickets, and age rules. The PopHops Pass does not include admission, reservations, transportation, drinks, food, discounts, or partner benefits.