Naughty in N'Awlins

Naughty in N'awlins is run by Bob and Tess Hannaford and has been staged in the French Quarter every year since the late 1990s. The convention takes over the entire 700-room Astor Crowne Plaza at the corner of Canal and Bourbon, and in recent years has expanded into the NOPSI as a second full-hotel venue, making it the largest single-property lifestyle hotel takeover in the United States. Rolling Stone's coverage of the event documents the scale: more than a thousand attendees flying in from across North America for a multi-day mix of seminars, themed parties, and on-property play space.

The format is unusually structured for a lifestyle takeover. Days are given over to workshops on subjects ranging from rope and impact play to communication, body image, and STI testing, with vendor halls running alongside. Nights move through a posted theme calendar (masquerade, white party, fetish, costume) that determines dress code at each ballroom and play room. Staff convert conference rooms into dedicated dungeon, bondage, and sensual-magic spaces for the duration of the event.

The convention is held each July, with 2025 dates of July 9 through 13 confirmed by organisers. Attendees can move freely between hotel parties and the Bourbon Street nightlife outside, which is the practical reason the Hannafords chose the French Quarter venue: the city absorbs a lifestyle convention without anyone outside the event noticing, and the historic dress-up culture of New Orleans gives the costume nights a built-in stage.