New Orleans Fair Grounds

The New Orleans Fairgrounds as a horseracing venue: it’s a fun way to spend a nice afternoon once a year or so. Is it easy to make money? No. The races seem to always have a very clear 1^st, 2^nd, and quite often even 3^rd place winner that win like clockwork with almost no payout to the average guest like myself. I’ve literally hit a $ 1 Superfecta and made like $ 11? That just ain’t right. The same bet at a different track won me like $ 1400. So yeah, something is off. Still, it’s a good time. Thanksgiving is a fun day to go. Dress up like Great Gatsby and sip champagne. Or check out Starlight Racing for a nightclub feel (for the ‘yoots)
Have fun and if you can make enough money to sustain yourself as you while away the day, consider yourself lucky for the experience!
The Fairgrounds is only open for horseracing from Thanksgiving to around Easter each year. Then it becomes the grounds for Jazz Fest. As a Jazz Fest venue, the New Orleans Fairgrounds is loads of fun but I will say this. As each year goes by it becomes more imperative to wear rain boots, even if the weather seems OK. There just always seems to be wet mud these days.

Considering my current city doesn’t have horse racing I have no room to be very picky.
Overall the Fair Grounds was nice. I went for horse racing specifically. I didn’t visit any other part of the facility, so this review is solely based on the horse racing. I went on Thanksgiving, which the fact that it’s open on Thanksgiving makes this place awesome! Really enjoyed seeing the horses and watching the races on this special day. There were lots of options and places to bid either with a teller or self service machine. The area where they show the horses before the race is also well constructed and actually quite pretty.
When you visit you can go in for free to the general admit area of pay $ 10 for the club level. I did the general admission and didn’t love it. It was packed and I felt like people were too close for my comfort. I also just in general felt very anxious about germs there. While things didn’t seem dirty, the place also didn’t seem as clean as other tracks I’ve visited. The food and beverage areas were also poorly placed and the food options were things that lead to love handles and heartburn.
I will visit again, but I will try the club level next time! Oh and they don’t check your purse, so if you’re a health nut like me and are coming just for the races — pack yourself some snacks!

Great!!! The fest is so much fun and unlike any event across the globe.