New Orleans hasn’t hosted a TEDx event in roughly 15 years, but that drought ends this Friday, October 30, when TEDxNOLA kicks off its inaugural gathering titled “What the World Needs Now.” General admission tickets close at midnight tonight, Wednesday, October 28, making this the final stretch for most would-be attendees to grab a spot.
The daylong event, with check-in beginning at 9:30 a.m., the program starting at 10:30 a.m. and the post-party running until 7:30 p.m., is open to the public, according to TED’s own event listing. University students can attend for free with advance registration, a detail confirmed by New Orleans CityBusiness, which reported that the event is independently organized under the banner “What the World Needs Now.” The event’s Luma listing notes that standard tickets include food and post-party admission, while VIP tickets include preferred seating and post-party admission.
Reporting diverges on exactly where the event will be held. New Orleans CityBusiness places it at Loyola University New Orleans, specifically the Communications/Music Complex, while the Tulane Hullabaloo reports that the event will take place on Tulane University’s campus. Hoodline could not independently reconcile the discrepancy between the two accounts.
Behind the Comeback
The event is the brainchild of Julianne Wurm, who previously founded TEDxEast in New York City, according to the Hullabaloo’s reporting. Organizers announced the inaugural gathering on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, in partnership with Loyola University, with additional support from public radio stations WWNO in New Orleans and WRKF in Baton Rouge, the city business outlet reported. The Hullabaloo adds that hundreds of speaker pitches flooded in from across the region as organizers assembled the program.
The lineup announced so far includes behavioral economist Dan Ariely, entrepreneur and education advocate Calvin Mackie, civil rights attorney Alanah Odoms, singer-songwriter Kristin Diable and musician Helen Gillet, per the city business site’s report. TED’s own event page notes that organizers are still building out a mix of local and national talent meant to shine a light on the region’s shared future, though the page also states that the program is now complete and the event has moved into speaker preparation rather than open submissions.
What Comes After Friday
TEDxNOLA’s ambitions extend beyond a single day. According to the city business outlet, organizers expect to begin hosting smaller, salon-style gatherings roughly three months after the inaugural conference, building toward a more continuous presence in New Orleans throughout 2027. The same report notes the possibility that presentations and related discussions from the event could eventually be featured on NPR’s TED Radio Hour, a byproduct of the partnership with WWNO and WRKF.
TEDx events operate independently under the broader TED program, which sets guidelines for locally organized conferences worldwide, the city business site explains. New Orleans isn’t entirely new to the TEDx concept — a 2015 City of New Orleans presentation listed a TEDxNewOrleans Conference among local happenings at the time, though details on that earlier event remain thin. Tulane’s own TEDx student club, TEDxTulane, separately holds an annual TEDx event each spring, according to its website, a different initiative from Friday’s citywide gathering.
For now, the countdown is on. With general ticket sales closing at midnight tonight and the show set for Friday, organizers appear focused on turning a single day of talks into something that sticks around the city for the long haul.
