10th Annual New Orleans Cigar Box Guitar Festival Returns to New Orleans Jazz Museum
The event runs Thursday, January 15 through Saturday, January 17.
By: Stephi Wild Dec. 03, 2025
The New Orleans Cigar Box Guitar Festival will return to the historic New Orleans Jazz Museum, 400 Esplanade Ave., Thursday, January 15 through Saturday, January 17.
The festival will showcase Louisiana Music Hall of Fame inductee Jonathon "Boogie" Long, sensational old-time music duo Hillary Klug & Meredith Moon, exciting French trio La Durance Blues Band, New Jersey-based Americana outfit April Mae & the June Bugs, and a dozen other acts who will make great music on unique improvised devices.
Audiences will enjoy first-time appearances by popular German guitarist Michael Malice, Australian Brett Littlefair, and Dutch band Three Strings Down. Back by popular demand are New Orleanians Brett Gardner, Mahmoud Chouki, Beth Patterson, Ed Wills & Jerry Dugger, Rumsey Kadar, and Amzie Adams. Maryland folk-rocker Skribe, Nashville duo Meg Williams & Travis Bowlin, cigar box guitar pioneer John Nickel, and international CBG ambassador Steve Arvey are also festival favorites.
In addition to the festival’s full slate of musical performances, the Thursday Night Symposium will feature two special guest speakers: celebrated Louisiana author, musician and actor Chris Thomas King; and author Michael Shurtz. Instrument builders will gather in the early afternoon hours on Friday and Saturday for discussions and a contest.
Only 124 all-inclusive tickets are being sold to this unique and intimate three-day cultural experience. All aspects of the event will be held within the comfortable confines of the Jazz Museum. Tickets and additional festival information are available on the website: NewOrleansCBG.com.
Throughout U. S. history, pioneers, Civil War soldiers, farmhands, street singers and other resourceful musicians found ways to build expressive instruments from household items and random hardware, most notably in Appalachia and the Mississippi Delta. Those simple instruments helped shape almost every style of American music. “Cigar Box Guitar” is a catchall phrase used to describe the general category of homemade stringed musical devices consisting of banjos, basses, dulcimers, fiddles, mandolins, diddley bows, and what-have-you.
Many musicians throughout the world are currently using homemade gear to record, perform live, or play at home, making these unique instruments and their authentic, traditional sound a staple of today’s music scene.
New Orleans Awards - Live Stats
Best Musical - Top 3
1.
ANNIE (Ascension Community Theatre)
20.2% of votes
2.
THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME (Sullivan theatre)
18.9% of votes
3.
THE WIZARD OF OZ (Slidell Little Theatre)
10.9% of votes
Videos