Best of Norfolk: The Annual Bayou Bon Vivant Festival
The Bayou Bon Vivant is hands-down our favorite local festival for the Hampton Roads Region. It’s part of a series in Norfolk produced by Festevents and the City of Norfolk. The gates open Friday afternoon and through early Sunday evening. While tickets are available per day, we typically buy the 3-day pass in advance (children 12 and under are free). We pack picnic blankets, lawn chairs, and gear for whatever the weather forecast may bring. While we were thankful they moved the event to mid-May after many years in late June, the temperature in southern Virginia can range from mid-60s with rain to nearly 100 degrees with full humidity and no cloud cover. Storms often roll through, pausing activities, but Festevents does its best to bring performers back on stage when conditions improve.
We’ve attended the NOLA-inspired festival many times over the last two decades, seeing many incredible well-known headliners, including Dr. John, Trombone Shorty, Blues Traveler, Anders Osborne and Shakey Graves. Big brass bands, blues and zydeco performances rotate between the Main Stage and the Crescent City covered tent area. In addition to the main stage bands, much of the weekend is filled with musicians that can be found at venues the rest of the year in New Orleans and around throughout lower Louisiana. Some will perform multiple times throughout the weekend.
Shopping New Orleans Arts Market
The arts market is also legit NOLA, curated by the Louisiana Crafts Guild. The artists come from Louisiana with their work, including photography, pottery, jewelry, clothing and other items.
On our last trip to the French Quarter we visited Leroy’s Place a handmade gifts shop, we learned that many of the items sold were the same as we had purchased over the years at the festival. The shop is also great example of the types of eclectic art that can be found at the Bayou Bon Vivant. In 2025, one of the stores iconic puppets, Fronda, came to Norfolk to pose with festival-goers.
Dining and Drinking at the Festival
As a vegetarian, the one thing that I find lacking is the food at the festival. While New Orleans itself has become a fantastic destination for plant-based dining, the vendors who come to the festival specialize in more traditional seafood and sausage-based dishes. Festival attendees who want traditional jambalaya, steamed crawfish, and gumbo will have no trouble dining all weekend. Because the ticket allows for reentry (but technically no food can be brought in), I usually hop out to one of the many nearby downtown Norfolk restaurants for a quick meal and return for beignets or king cake for dessert.
While not on the menu, one vender at the 2025 Bayou Bon Vivant did offer a great veggie plate, with rice, potatoes and corn.
More Festival Activities
Additional activities offered around the park (outside of the standard music, food and shopping) vary from year to year. For many years the Rad Hatter attended with a booth to create hats made from paper grocery bags. In 2025 the activity lineup includes chess games, a wearable art craft tent, face painting, and Fronda, one of the puppets from Leroy’s Place.
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