What does it cost to hear more than 100 songwriters play their own songs in downtown Covington on the first full weekend of November? For Saturday and Sunday, the answer is nothing. The OZONE Songwriter Festival runs November 6 through 8, 2026. It calls itself Louisiana's largest songwriter festival, and the Friday night showcase is its only ticketed event.
Most people see the Friday show first, because it has the famous names and the price. The free part is bigger. It is spread across bars, a record shop, a hotel lounge and the Trailhead, most of them close enough to hear a round at one place and get to the next before it starts.
Friday Is the Only Night With a Price
The weekend opens Friday, November 6, at Fuhrmann Auditorium, with music from 6 to 10 p.m. Country singer Deana Carter headlines, with songwriters Jaime Floyd and Greg Barnhill. Crispin and Ezra Schroeder open the evening. Tickets went on sale September 7 through the festival's showcase ticket page. These are the base prices on the checkout page, before added tax:
| Seat tier | Listed price |
|---|---|
| VIP | $119 |
| Reserved Seating 1 | $53 |
| Reserved Seating 2 | $50 |
| Reserved Side Sections | $41 |
All three headliners are known for the songs they wrote. The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame lists Carter as a co-writer of "You and Tequila," which Kenny Chesney and Grace Potter took to No. 3 on the country chart. Songwriting Magazine reports that Floyd has written songs recorded by Kelly Clarkson, Miranda Lambert, Kesha and Madi Diaz. Her work on Ashley Monroe's "The Blade" earned a Grammy nomination. The Bluebird Cafe credits Barnhill with the Grammy-nominated "Walkaway Joe" and the crossover hit "House of Love." Etta James, Tim McGraw and Chicago have also recorded his songs.
That is one night in an auditorium. The rest of the weekend happens on the street.
Saturday Moves Onto the 400 Block of North Columbia
Visit the Northshore lists the Saturday and Sunday program as concerts and round-robin songwriter sessions at venues all over downtown. It counts more than 120 songwriters, and every event except the Friday showcase is free and open to the public. The ticket page describes it as more than 100 live performances.
The venue addresses show how close together it all is. Four of the stages are on the same block of North Columbia Street:
- Encore Bar & Grill, 407 N. Columbia St.
- Cured on Columbia, 415 N. Columbia St.
- Black Flower Apparel & Records, 424 N. Columbia St.
- Columbia Street Tap Room & Grill, 434 N. Columbia St.
The others are close by. The Covington Trailhead is at 419 N. New Hampshire St., and The Green Room is at 521 E. Boston St. The tourism listing also names the Southern Hotel and Oliver & Cecile Lodging & Lounge as venues. The festival names The Ox & The Bee, at 428 N. Florida St., as a stage partner. The City of Covington's newsletter adds the front porch at H.J. Smith's Sons. Because the published lists don't fully match, check the festival hub at ozonemusic.org for the final venues and set times before you plan your route.
Local food and drink vendors will be set up, and official festival merchandise will be for sale. If it rains, the Trailhead performances move indoors to Bogue Falaya Hall, 317 N. Jefferson Ave., a few blocks west.
A Friday Headliner Teaches Saturday Morning
On Saturday morning you can learn from one of the writers on the Friday bill. The festival's workshop page schedules a session at Bogue Falaya Hall on Saturday, November 7, from 9 a.m. to 1:45 p.m. The registration form lists three topics:
- Songwriting and collaboration with Greg Barnhill and Joyce Sampson
- Copyright and contract basics with Max Hass
- Social media for music and entertainment with Kell Martin
The same page describes Angela Perry teaching rhythm, vocals and ukulele. Registration goes through the festival site, so anyone with a teenager who writes songs, or anyone who has been filling notebooks with lyrics, should sign up there before the weekend.
Barnhill's place on Saturday morning matches how the festival began. OffBeat reported that he came up with the idea for the festival. So the writer whose songs anchor the ticketed night also leads Saturday's songwriting class, a few blocks from the free stages.
How a Second-Year Festival Grew to 138 Songwriters
In 2019, NOLA.com described OZONE as a second-year event. By November 3 to 6, 2022, OffBeat was covering the fifth annual festival. In a funding request filed with the Louisiana Legislature, the foundation reported 138 songwriters from Louisiana and 14 other states in 2024. It planned to reach 150 in 2025 by adding locations and venues. The 2025 festival ran October 31 through November 2 and advertised more than 120 songwriters on 10 downtown Covington stages.
That growth plan explains why the free part matters. Each new venue the festival adds is another small room with no ticket booth.
The songwriter count also includes contest entrants. OffBeat reported in May that 2026 performer applications and Louisiana Songwriter Festival Contest entries were open from May 25 to July 25, 2026. According to OZONE, the winners get professional writing sessions and studio time to record their winning song.
Proceeds go to the OZONE Music Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that supports music education in St. Tammany Parish with instrument donations, mentorships and classroom programs. The Friday ticket helps pay for that work. The free weekend shows it in action, as Louisiana writers share downtown stages with writers from the Nashville rooms.
Sunday Ends in Mandeville, and Columbia Street Stays Busy
The festival closes Sunday with a public party and open mic at Ruby's Roadhouse in Mandeville. Last year's times don't necessarily apply, so check the festival hub for this year's start time before you drive across.
OZONE also sits in the middle of a busy month downtown. Most of the dates around it use the same Trailhead and the same stretch of Columbia Street:
- Thursday, October 22: Rockin' the Rails with Yeah You Right, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Covington Trailhead
- Saturday, October 24: Nightmare on Columbia Street, a ticketed cocktail stroll from the Covington Business Association. Check-in is at the Trailhead at 5 p.m., and the city newsletter lists an after-party running until 10 p.m.
- Thursday, October 29: Rockin' the Rails with Rocket Men, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Trailhead
- Friday, October 30: Columbia Street Block Party and Trunk or Treat, 6 to 9 p.m.
- November 6 to 8: OZONE Songwriter Festival
- November 14 and 15: Three Rivers Art Festival on Columbia Street
The OZONE weekend falls between Halloween and Three Rivers. You can buy a seat for Deana Carter on Friday night. On Saturday, the 400 block of North Columbia is open to anyone who walks in.
Whether you're mapping out a Saturday of songwriter rounds or thinking about how close you'd like to live to a weekend like this one, I'm happy to share what I know about downtown Covington and the streets around it. Gina Constantino has been part of the Northshore for more than 30 years, and these weekends are part of what makes it home. Let's Connect.
