Of course, February's Mardi Gras is the festival everyone associates with this city.

BBC: Celebrate New Orleans, from Mardi Gras to Jazz Fest

The festival's Mardi Gras takes place on 20 July with the Edinburgh Festival Carnival on 21 July.

BBC: Mud Morganfield

Tourism officials said attendance at Mardi Gras and the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in 2007 was near pre-storm levels.

CNN: Tale of two cities: Biloxi and New Orleans

Let's face it: The Monterey Jazz Festival is as much about music as Mardi Gras is about religious observance.

NPR: Jazz, Alive and Well and Playing in Monterey

He has attended gatherings for a medical association celebrating the anniversary of the first use of anesthetics and another for the Gasparilla Parade, a pirate-themed festival that is the city's version of Mardi Gras.

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