In a city like New Orleans, where there’s a festival for nearly every musical genre, nearly every  cultural heritage of our community, as well as culinary festivals for specific dishes and single ingredients, it is difficult to imagine a time when there was not a festival to attend every single  weekend of the year. 

But the New Orleans festival calendar in the mid-1980s was a slim fraction of its current social butterfly-friendly version. The oil industry’s bust had caused an exodus of Downtown oil and gas companies, and the city needed a boost, both economically and culturally. While the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and French Quarter Festival were doing well, there was plenty of room on the calendar for another event celebrating New Orleans.  

On Halloween Day 1986, at a meeting at Mandina’s Restaurant, a few friends and an idea came together. At the table were Errol Laborde, a longtime editor of Gambit; Maureen Detweiler, special projects and events coordinator for the mayor’s office; Don Marshall, the head of Le Petit Théâtre du Vieux Carré; and John Jardel, a state tourism executive. 

Tennessee Williams had passed away just three and a half years prior, and Le Petit Théâtre du Vieux Carré had a production of his Pulitzer Prize-winning Cat on A Hot Tin Roof scheduled for March. Honoring Williams, whose birthday is March 26, in the city that he loved and that inspired so much of his work seemed like a great way to bring attention to the literary legacy of the city as well as bring tourism dollars to the hotels, restaurants, and shops of the French Quarter. 

A small board was formed, and less than five months later with $500 of their own money, they produced the first Tennessee Williams & New Orleans Literary Festival on April 3–5, 1987. Noted local artist George Dureau designed the festival poster. The first literary panel was “New Orleans as a Home for Writers” featuring local authors and moderated by Ralph Adamo. The panel was reprised when the festival turned twenty-one  in 2007, again moderated by Adamo, and it is both nostalgic and logical to bring it back to the modern era for the fortieth anniversary. 

Forty years later, the Tennessee Williams & New Orleans Literary Festival has grown into a five-day French Quarter celebration of literature, theatre, cuisine, and music. Held as close to Williams’ birthday as possible, it has become a springtime tradition for readers, writers, theater lovers, and those who love New Orleans cuisine, cocktails, and culture. Named one of the seven best book festivals in the world by National Geographic in July 2025, the festival attracts locals as well as loyal fans from all over the US and abroad for its writer’s craft sessions, literary panels, theatre events, literary walking tours, writing marathons, culinary events, author interviews, and music events.  

The festival also includes the Tennessee Williams Scholars Conference (added in 1996) and the Saints & Sinners LGBTQ+ Literary Festival (founded in 2003) and partners with community theater companies and literary organizations to promote and support New Orlean’s rich literary arts scene. A portion of festival programming is devoted to Williams, with the majority of events celebrating contemporary writers, this year including Pulitzer Prize-winner Robert Olen Butler, National Book Award Winner Justin Torres, and over one hundred authors. 

The Tennessee Williams & New Orleans Literary Festival kicks off its fortiethanniversary Saturday, March 21 with a gift to the city: a free Tennessee Williams showcase featuring New Orleans performers on the oak tree-shaded lawn of the New Orleans Jazz Museum. The showcase culminates with the festival’s signature event, the Stella Shouting Contest, a beloved tradition added to the festival in 1996. The festival continues with a special theatrical event for its opening night on Wednesday, March 25 and runs through Sunday, March 29, with over seventy events. 

What began as lunch and grew into a small festival has since become a cultural destination for thousands of travelers. Visit tennesseewilliams.net for full details and tickets.