The Cultural Exchange Pavilion is always a Jazz Fest highlight. The tent can be a great place to hear global folk styles, dance to high-energy music, enjoy a cultural demonstration or two and get a reprieve from the sun.
Jazz Fest each year highlights a different country, with performances in the Cultural Exchange Pavilion and on other stages, artist demonstrations and a food vendor stationed near the Pavilion. In 2026, the festival is spotlighting Jamaica.
The lineup includes Jamaican, Caribbean, reggae and ska artists, including some based in Jamaica, New Orleans and elsewhere. The tent schedule also includes artists from Mali, Haiti and more.
Bigger acts with Jamaican heritage, like Stephen and Ziggy Marley and Sean Paul have headlining sets on the Congo Square Stage, and jazz pianist Monty Alexander will headline the WWOZ Jazz Tent. But many of the Jamaican musicians and bands will pass through the Pavilion. Here are some highlights.
Hailing from Kingston, Jamaica, reggae singer Rik Jam released his debut album, “The Genesis,” last year. On it, he reflects on his own upbringing and religion. He performs with the Island Federation the first Thursday at Jazz Fest on the Congo Square Stage and at the Pavilion.
Silver Birds Steel Orchestra started in 2007 as an outreach program for high schoolers and is now a staple on the Jamaican resort circuit. The orchestra features steel drums and plays everything from Bob Marley to Lady Gaga. Catch them the first weekend at the Pavilion Thursday, Friday and Saturday, in the Children’s Tent on Friday and on the Jazz & Heritage Stage Saturday.
People danced in the Cultural Exchange Pavilion Stage during the 2025 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.
Also on the first Saturday, modern roots reggae artist Lutan Fyah of Jamaica plays the Pavilion stage and the Jazz & Heritage Stage. Fyah has put out a whopping 19 full-length records and a live album and often includes songs with socially conscious and religious lyrics in line with his Rastafari beliefs.
You’ve likely heard of reggae, ska and dancehall, but mento, a style of Jamaican folk music, greatly influenced those popular genres heard today. ShowJam’s Mento Band plays the first Friday, Saturday and Sunday with sets at the Pavilion, Children’s Tent, Jazz & Heritage Stage and Rhythmpourium.
The Skatalites played together for a few years in the ’60s, backing Bob Marley & The Wailers and becoming one of the foundational bands of modern Jamaican music. The ska band reunited in 1983 and have been playing together ever since, releasing 17 studio albums over the years. They play the Pavilion the second Friday and Saturday and also take the Gentilly Stage that Friday.
On the second Thursday, hear from Jesse Royal, the 36-year-old roots-reggae revival singer-songwriter, at the Pavilion and the Jazz & Heritage Stage. His third and most recent studio album, 2025’s “No Place Like Home,” was nominated for a Grammy, and a deluxe version comes out May 16.
Reggae is at the heart of 32-year-old Jemere Morgan’s music, though he mixes it with hip-hop, R&B and other genres. Afterall, his grandfather is reggae legend Denroy Morgan. Jemere Morgan plays the Pavilion Saturday and Sunday and catch him on the Jazz & Heritage Stage Saturday and the Festival Stage on Sunday.
On the final day of the festival, Sunday, May 3, Kingston-born Dex Daley and his reggae band JAM-X will get things started at the Pavilion. Daley formed JAM-X in 1989 and the group gained acclaim playing summer shows in New York and New Jersey in the ’90s and early 2000s. Enamored with events like Mardi Gras and Jazz Fest, Daley moved to New Orleans in late 2012. He and JAM-X fuse reggae and steel drum sounds with New Orleans jazz and blues.
Closing out the Pavilion on the final Sunday is Lila Ike, a 32-year-old Jamaican reggae singer-songwriter. She’s on a hot streak after releasing her debut album “Treasure Self Love” with features from H.E.R. and Joey Bada$$ last year and performing at this year’s Grammy awards. You can also see her earlier in the day on the Congo Square Stage.
If you work up an appetite dancing at the Pavilion, Gentilly restaurant Afrodisiac is making their Jazz Fest debut at Cultural Exchange Village’s food stand, serving up oxtail stew with rice and peas, jerk mushrooms with rice and peas and fried fish topped with pickled vegetables and fried sweet dumplings.
There also are exhibitions spread around the Pavilion, including photography by Patrick Planter and a multimedia exhibit by Maxine Walters and Matthew McCarthy focused on posters advertising dancehall parties. And in the nearby Cultural Exchange Artist Demonstration Tent, Jamaican sign makers, basket weavers, textile artists and more will be showing their works.
Also, keep a look out for the group Kaya Jonkunno leading traditional folk parades around the festival grounds featuring characters, drums and fife.
Eight days of music, food and New Orleans culture.
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