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Rock band Widespread Panic returns to New Orleans for a 2026 Halloween run

The two-night stand at UNO Lakefront Arena is the band's first New Orleans Halloween show since 2021.

Widespread Panic

John Bell of Widespread Panic sings into a microphone while playing guitar, bathed in bright purple stage light.
Bell performing with Widespread Panic in Santa Barbara, California, in April 2014. Photo: NewMillenniumMusic, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Widespread Panic will celebrate Halloween in New Orleans for the first time since 2021, playing two nights at UNO Lakefront Arena on Friday, October 30 and Saturday, October 31.

Tickets go on sale Friday, August 21 at 10 a.m. Central time.

The venue has a long history with the band's Halloween tradition. UNO Lakefront Arena first hosted Widespread Panic on Halloween in 1997, and the rock band returned there for the holiday every year through 2003, then again in 2010, 2013, 2019 and 2021. Widespread Panic typically builds each Halloween show around a theme; last year's edition in Savannah, Georgia, was styled after Alice In Wonderland and featured a string of cover debuts and rarely played songs.

The New Orleans dates arrive as the band tours without longtime guitarist Jimmy Herring, with Nick Johnson currently filling in on lead guitar. Fans heading to the tour guide for details will find a run that leans on nearly three decades of New Orleans Halloween history, with a theme for October's two shows still to be revealed.

The facts

  • Widespread Panic's Halloween run is October 30 and 31, 2026 at UNO Lakefront Arena
  • It is the band's first New Orleans Halloween run since 2021
  • UNO Lakefront Arena first hosted the band's Halloween shows in 1997
  • The band is currently touring with Nick Johnson filling in for guitarist Jimmy Herring

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