In a city that’s decidedly not lacking in the art and farm markets, merch pop-ups, and food trucks, Freret Market stands out for its sheer size and the fact that it combines all those components — art, flea, food/farm, and live music. This open-air market is located at Freret Street and Napoleon Avenue and is held on the first Saturday of every month (except June-August) from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The Freret Market was started in September 2007 to revitalize the Freret business corridor. Since then, it’s grown to become a popular destination with special events and healthy attendance numbers. Besides the weekly food, art and flea vendors, the market regularly hosts local restaurant and catering business pop-ups and food carts. There are usually about 70 vendors total, plus live music, an area for kids; and pet adoptions available from Zeus Place, the market’s fellow Freret Street neighbor.
Today’s Freret Market is a vital part of the renaissance that Freret Street has been experiencing. The eight blocks stretching from Downtown to Uptown New Orleans parallel to St. Charles Avenue are known as a popular destination for food, shopping, and entertainment. The street hosts many restaurants, specialty shops, art galleries, bars, coffee shops, and more. It’s also home to the annual Freret Street Festival, held on the first Saturday in the spring (March and April). The festival has been growing since the mid-1990s, with over 100 vendors participating in the past.
The weekly sampling of food vendors at the Freret Market includes Iacovone Kitchen with a fresh, chef-driven menu of panini, pulled pork and whatever is in season, Jazzy Keto, a low-carb catering company that specializes in cauliflower-mash bowls of blackened chicken, vegan veggie and Cajun shrimp, and Not Cho Average Nachos (gourmet nachos, that’s right).
There are many opportunities to indulge your sweet tooth (check out Keyala’s Pralines) and get some locally made soap, candles, jerky, or pepper jelly. There are also plenty of art, flea and vintage vendors, farm stalls, and local merchants selling furniture, clothing, jewelry, and more.
Freret Market is located near the University District, which contains the Tulane and Loyola campuses. The area is easy to navigate and get to from the French Quarter and other areas by car and public transportation. There’s off-street parking in the lot at the corner of Cadiz and Magnolia Streets, and plenty of street parking on adjacent streets.
And, please note: The Alder Hotel offers free self-parking in the parking lot directly across the street. It’s relatively rare to find this amenity in New Orleans, so we hope you take advantage of it!
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