People, places, businesses, and services keep our city working 24 hours a day and we are here for them. The Office of Nighttime Economy (O.N.E.) serves as the City of New Orleans liaison to the nightlife industry, community, and city agencies. As a "city that is built to host," our office works to advocate for the entire nighttime economy and our culture bearers while serving as the primary resource for all New Orleanians to learn more about the city’s 24-hour economy.  

By coordinating city services and programs that improve the quality of life for residents and visitors, our staff provides relevant information for nightlife and hospitality business owners and operators, workers, performers, and patrons as well as those who work in healthcare, transportation, construction, and every other industry that works around the clock. 

Click here to join our virtual office hours.

What is Nighttime Economy?

The nighttime economy includes the people, places, businesses, and services that keep New Orleans working between 6pm - 6am. It includes live music venues, bars, restaurants, hotels, festivals, and cultural spaces, but it also includes the musicians, performers, hospitality workers, healthcare professionals, transportation workers, delivery drivers, construction crews, public safety workers, and many others who keep the city moving.

Nighttime is not a niche part of New Orleans life. It is part of how people earn a living, how our culture is created and shared, and how residents and visitors experience the city every day.

How O.N.E. Supports the City After Dark

The Office of Nighttime Economy works across departments, industries, and neighborhoods to help New Orleans better support the people and places that operate after dark. Our work is focused on making nightlife safer, more sustainable, and easier to navigate for the businesses, workers, performers, residents, and patrons who depend on it.

Support Businesses and Workers

We provide practical resources, guidance, and connections for nightlife and hospitality businesses, employees, entrepreneurs, and prospective operators.

Click here to learn more about business resources

Strengthen Music and Culture

We support musicians, performers, venues, and the broader music industry through resources, research, programming, and policy work that recognizes music as an essential part of New Orleans’ economy and identity.

Click here to learn more about music industry development

Promote Safer Nights

We connect businesses, workers, and patrons with harm-reduction tools, safety training, and resources that help create safer spaces for everyone.

Email nighttime@nola.gov to request harm reduction training and supplies.

Help Communities Coexist

We help residents, businesses, and city agencies navigate common nighttime challenges through mediation, sound-management resources, education, and coordination.

Email nighttime@nola.gov to request a free mediation with Mediate NOLA.

Improve the Systems Around Nightlife

We work with City departments and partners to address the infrastructure that makes nighttime activity possible, including transportation, parking, public space, permitting, workforce support, and communication across agencies.

Building a Stronger Nighttime Economy 

The Office of Nighttime Economy has created a Strategic Plan to serve as a roadmap for how New Orleans can better support and sustain its nightlife going forward. The plan outlines the City’s first coordinated framework for strengthening the after-dark economy through clear goals, practical actions, and long-term strategies.

Developed internally by the Office’s staff, this plan is rooted in community input, real-time data, and collaboration with city departments and national experts. It identifies key priorities across business and workforce support, public safety, transportation, and music industry development, ensuring that the systems supporting nightlife are as strong and creative as the culture itself.

Our city has long been defined by what happens after dark. This plan represents a commitment to preserving that identity while addressing the challenges that threaten it, from economic pressure and changing consumer behavior to coordination gaps among agencies. With this roadmap, New Orleans can move from reacting to problems toward building a stronger, more sustainable nighttime economy for the future.

Read the New Orleans Nighttime Economy Strategic Plan