New Orleans East is about to host artists from more than 20 countries as the International Arts Festival returns this month, bringing Nigerian Afrobeat star Seun Kuti, R&B veteran Regina Belle and New Orleans-born reggae artist and Bermuda resident Collie Buddz to a brand-new waterfront venue built where the old Bally's Casino once stood.
Multiple sources list conflicting start dates for the festival: the event's own website and WGNO both cite September 24-27, 2026, while Where Y'at's sister publication myneworleans.com reports the festival runs Friday, Sept. 25, through Sunday, Sept. 27. Either way, the festival lands at The Public Market at South Shore Harbor, an open-air venue on Lake Pontchartrain that internationalartsfest.com describes as being rooted in the African Diaspora and built around international music, culture and business exchange. The address is 6901 Stars and Stripes Blvd., per myneworleans.com.
A New Home on the Lakefront
The festival will feature four days of live performances, food, art and cultural experiences, according to WWL-TV, and it also marks the festival's fifth edition since its 2020s relaunch.
The Public Market at South Shore Harbor is being built by Henry and Karen Coaxum on the site of the old Bally's Casino, according to WGNO. Karen Coaxum told the outlet the venue is intended to be a destination on Lake Pontchartrain, adding that the harbor and lake views are stunning. The festival will serve as the first major event held at the still-developing venue.
A Lineup Spanning Nine Countries
WWL-TV reports Saturday's bill includes Seun Kuti, New Orleans musician Irvin Mayfield and the “Sax to Soul” package featuring Regina Belle, Michael Lington and Paul Taylor. Sunday's performers, per the same station, include Jamaican reggae artist Bushman, Cuban musician Alexey Marti, New Orleans-born artist Collie Buddz, and Corey Henry and The Treme Funktet. WGNO reports the festival represents artists from more than 20 countries overall, with musicians drawn from nine countries specifically, alongside a dozen or so local acts rounding out the bill.
Corey Henry told WGNO that sharing the stage with international acts provides cultural and musical learning, noting that performing alongside artists from abroad teaches local musicians different rhythms. The festival also includes an art market and exchange panels connecting the diaspora to cultural economies, per WGNO, with sessions addressing municipal cooperation on water, drainage and infrastructure as well as business across the Atlantic and Pacific.
Investment Forum Runs Alongside the Music
The festival is tied to the Tourism Investment Forum Africa, which internationalartsfest.com says is designed to connect African project owners with North American investors, diaspora capital networks, development finance institutions and corporate partners. The forum will showcase opportunities across tourism, hospitality, creative industries including film, real estate, infrastructure and travel technology, according to the same source. A related TIFA Conference will include sessions on tourism, creative industries, fintech, digital ecosystems and heritage investment corridors, per showpass.com.
The festival is organized by the International Arts Foundation, a New Orleans nonprofit founded by Ernest D. Kelly in 1987, WWL-TV reports. Kelly originally produced the International Arts Festival from 1987 to 2005 before it was relaunched in the 2020s, according to the station. WGNO reports that the festival has been affected by immigration and visa problems, per Kelly, though details of those complications were not specified. Myneworleans.com describes the 2026 edition as an expansion of the foundation's mission of cultural exchange, artistic excellence and community uplift.
Tickets are available for individual days and for the full weekend, with VIP options also on offer, according to WWL-TV. Whether the gates open Thursday or Friday remains unsettled between the festival's own listing and other reporting, but organizers have made clear the goal is the same: turning a stretch of New Orleans East lakefront into a stage for global sound and regional investment alike.
