The local musicians from Congo Square take you back to the roots of music in New Orleans. They offered a prayer to remember their ancestors. The music and the local drinks were the best way to spend a sunny Sunday.

Stopped by Armstrong Park and Congo Square during our visit to New Orleans. The location has a rich history and some historians credit it as the birthplace of jazz. Had hoped for more local artists and musicians to be in the park and square but there were none.

Recognizing the importance of this location from a historic and cultural perspective cannot be understated. Unfortunately, there's almost no information about that importance. There's one small sign, but I would have hoped to have learned more while walking around.

Congo Square has been a place of music and dance dating to the slave days. Many believe it is the beginning place of American music? Normally on Sunday afternoons people still gather to play music and dance. It’s a very nice place to sit and listen or even participate.

This place called to me and nurtured my soul! I learned all about Congo Square before visiting, but you don’t learn everything about it until you visit. You most certainly do not feel its power until you visit. There was an older gentleman drumming when we entered and the powerful beat of the drums brought Congo Square to life for me. I closely examined the circles, the grout (I have a habit of looking for hand, finger and footprints) the benches and the beautiful trees. The drumming gentleman approached me when he thought I was being left behind by a tour group. I told him that my husband and I were showing ourselves around, so he offered to tell me more history. The ancestral tree is a beauty to behold. It’s limbs and trunk are gigantic. Looking into it’s vastness, I could only imagine the stories it holds. If only those branches could talk. It is the oldest tree in NO and people still bring offerings for ancestors. If there was ever a time I felt a real connection to the past was in Congo Square. I imagined the ancestors finding reprieve from a harsh world with dancing and drumming. The statue with the woman dancing and drummers made me smile… I studied their faces and took it all in, person by person.

One should never leave New Orleans without taking the Black Heritage and Jazz tour which tells the real history of the city and its role in the enslavement of Black people. No sugar coating. No white washing. Highly recommend. Mikhala is an engaging truth teller!

Interesting park like scene which pays tribute to slaves gatherings at the time to dance to jazz with some sort of Sunday Freedom. It has an interesting sculpture of dancers and it has the round center plaza where the action used to take place. It also provides some seats to rest for a bit. Enjoy!

A great cultural destination within the community. The monuments tell powerful stories.

Beautiful place to be especially knowing slaves came here to dance and enjoy themselves

Historical location. Must visit and experience the music and vibe. It was not busy when we visited, would be a cool place to visit during summer time

The history of the Congo Square is fascinating and important to know. Be sure to get a tour by a credible person who represents the culture.

This is the former gathering place of slaves on Sundays, where they danced, sang and practiced the traditions of their native West African culture. Stop in to take a seat in the shade and relax from a day of walking, and feel the power of the ancestors that once shook the earth under their feet, and the energy the still lives in the trees, rocks and buildings around

What a nice park. Also a great location for small festivals.

So much history here. Please get a tour guide to walk through

Update: I finally made it to Congo Square on a Sunday after 3p and while they were playing music similar to what I imagined it was some 200 years ago. More or less. Or always and forever. Where the free and enslaved came on Sunday, the one day they had to go out to church, where they had the opportunity to gather with friends and family they were separated from. To celebrate. To mourn. Great memorial to a horrible time in our history.

Had the oppurtunity to come for 2 days. On Sunday got chance to see a preformance and volunteer to dance. Very elated feeling to be in the stomping ground of my ancestors and felt powerful aura on Sunday.

This place spoke to my entire soul. I did not know the significance of this ground until I did research online.

Amazing historic landmark! Make sure you try and find Mandela “The Story Teller” — he knows his stuff! He had so many great stories and insights to share about the history in this park.

Beautiful piece of African and Indigenous history. A must see and at 3 pm on Sundays is drumming circle.

Hoodoo, voodoo, what do you do? Papa's here are you? Follow the paved road to somewhere, nowhere. The birds know so do the squirrels maybe you know too.

Great learning experience. Walking tour was great.

Wonderful place to do some research about prior to visiting!Very important place of worship and music here in mew orleans.

Great experience. Wish the Mayor would take more pride in why this park is so meaningful...

Congo Square was a gathering place for American Indians prior to the arrival of Eurooeans. After New Orleans was founded, the square became a gathering place for African slaves to sing, dance, and celebrate each other.

Every Sunday starting at 3 PM until 6 PM there is a drumming circle. Check it out. It dates back for hundreds of years.

Part of my Treme walking tour. A very important location for understanding African American history.

Robi, from Free Tours by Foot, New Orleans said that there be bongo drumming and voodoo dancing every Sunday. But, there was just recorded music and some vendors. No 'vegan' food, but i had the woman at the egg roll stand try a sip of soy milk, as she uses cow milk in the sweet potato egg rolls. She said she'd try cooking with it. I told her about 'Just Egg' too. I could picture how it would have been back in the day though when the black folks got together in one of the oldest black neighborhoods to express their heritage. Congo Square was here before Louie Armstrong Park though, as it's In the park. There are outhouses and plenty of grassy and shady places to sit, as well as park benches, ponds and ducks, quack. This is in The Louie Armstrong park, and there are many sculptures and a school of arts! Sunday, September 24th, they had bongo's!

Great place to learn a bit of black history.

An important historic place where slaves used to gather. There's an informative sign and some interesting sculptures. It's next to/part of Louis Armstrong Park.

Park was a little dirty there was trash under benches. Very pretty trees, on a tour we took they said on Sundays there is groups of dancers that come out to represent what the park use to be.

What an experience!! Went on a Sunday after 11:00. Participants beat drums, people danced, ancestors were recognised, and the tree that stood in the square has an amazing history. Such a painful history that birthed a completely unique culture that you will only find in N.O. I found it all an incredibly moving experience. Loved it!

5 stars for its significance to jazz history. If you are not interested in music history, it may be boring to you. To sit here though after learning about it is a very interesting experience and something important to do.

In your spare time, you can go in and see the story behind the sculpture.

Very cool place lots of history

A lot of Black history here!! Congo Square is also connected to the Louis Armstrong Park

A nice little park. Music and festivities are held here. The birthplace of jazz.

I came here with a Voodoo tour, it was eye openning and mind blowing to learn about others way of life. Supposed to be Congo dancing here on sundays, I hope you have your dancing shoes on

A walking tour with an experienced and knowledgeable guide provided us with a lively history lesson of New Orleans. The tour was chock full of fun facts of the local areas, the key figures of New Orleans, how voodoo became popular, and the significance of many locations including Congo Square (where the slaves and their owners gathered after weekly Catholic Church services for news and gossip). Congo Square was a place where Marie Laveau and other people of color had gathered to trade gossip (she was dubbed as the Queen of voodoo), danced to the drumbeats and songs from Haiti and Africa, and the giant oak trees offered shade and privacy from the slave owners. The heartbeat of charming New Orleans can still be heard at Congo Square as drumbeats and music are still played in the traditional manner.

If you're visiting New Orleans this is a must see. The city or mayor whoever is responsible for this needs to fix this park up. This park definitely deserves to be fixed.