Sister, Sister
As an internationally-popular city, New Orleans has attached itself to cities in North America, South America, Europe, and Asia as sister cities.
While the amount of these bonds has increased in recent years, some of our sister cities have enjoyed long-standing relationships due to their love and appreciation of New Orleans culture.
Innsbruck, Austria
Louisiana State University of New Orleans students have been traveling to Innsbruck, Austria, to attend summertime classes for 50 years. Since 1976, the now LSUNO and the University of Innsbruck International Summer School have shared students over the course of several weeks for the renowned cultural learning program. The cities became official sister cities in 1995.
During the 50th anniversary celebration, Innsbruck Deputy Mayor Georg Willi stated, "The founding of the UN Summer School in 1976 was a significant step for the partnership between Innsbruck and New Orleans. With the symposium during the anniversary week, I am particularly pleased that numerous experts—including some from Louisiana—will be exchanging ideas on the intersections of culture, economics, sustainability, and education. As part of the city partnership with New Orleans, it is very important to us to contribute to the success of the Summer School and to give the students an insight into various municipal topics."
Isola del Liri, Italy
Isola del Liri is an ancient island town in Italy's Liri River, which features waterfalls that attracted factories for the use of hydropower. Paper factories, in particular, thrived for a century until the 1980s when rampant closures caused economic hardship in Isola del Liri.
Local businessman Luciano Duro had been a lifelong fan of music when the mass closures began. He fondly remembered working in a shop that sold LPs in 1982, writing, "Selling records was a fantastic experience, a part of my passion for music, as were Radio Isola 1 and Radio Cassandra. They'd call me from Bologna when the containers arrived from the US, and I'd leave immediately. In a warehouse almost as big as Piazza Boncompagni, piles of records were piled up in bulk. I'd select them meticulously. There was great music: rock, blues, jazz, classical. The prices were much lower than national distribution, so young customers could buy cheaply. They came from every corner of the province. They knew I wasn't just a salesman. They recognized in me an authority on the music field and a fundamental honesty. I put out a lot of music for a few years. Then, I stopped."
Duro felt the need to dispense music in a grander way. Seeing a need for economic stimulation, he got into organizing concerts with Italian and foreign artists, eventually making the very first Liri Blues Festival in 1988. The festival grew rapidly with the booking of well-known blues and bluesy rock acts. Mayor Marc Morial welcomed Isola del Liri's city leaders on January 7, 1997, to sign a sister city agreement, and several New Orleans artists have performed at Liri Blues Festival since conception. Unfortunately, the festival became stalled in the 2020s seemingly due to political and administrative issues.
Matsue, Japan
A Greek-born writer/teacher is the link between New Orleans and Matsue, Japan. Lafcadio Hearn—called Koizumi Yakumo in Japan—was born on the Ionian island of Lefkada. Hearn experienced a tumultuous life, going from Greece to Ireland to Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1877 at the age of 27, Hearn wrote to his friend, "It is time for a fellow to get out of Cincinnati when they begin to call it the Paris of America." Hearn proceeded to then move to New Orleans, writing for local papers including the Daily City Item and the Times Democrat, and his eclectic and worldly flair in his writing and illustrations was captured in works such as Creole Sketches and Chita: A Memory of Last Island.
Hearn is seen as one of the prolific writers for national publications that characterized New Orleans culture as unique and created intrigue for it as a place for tourism. Though he enjoyed the culture of the city, he described it as "a dead bride crowned with orange flowers."
Hearn was dispatched as a newspaper correspondent to Japan in 1890, and the role quickly ended; however, Hearn decided to stay there for 15 months as a teacher at Shimane Prefectural Common Middle School and Normal School in Matsue. He married and had children there, becoming a Japanese citizen in 1896, and remained there for the rest of his life. Moving between teaching positions and writing for publications, Hearn's final job was lecturing at Waseda University. He passed away in 1904 at the age of 54.
In 1994, Matsue and New Orleans came together over their love of Lafcadio Hearn and how he described them in his writings to become sister cities. Matsue holds an annual New Orleans Festival, and the Japan Society of New Orleans organized the inaugural Lafcaido Fest in 2026.
Ascona, Switzerland
Hannes Anrig created Festa New Orleans, which was first held in 1975 in Lugano, Switzerland. After Anrig's tenure as director in 1984, the fest was moved to neighboring Ascona the next year. In 2004, it was rebranded to JazzAscona. A sister city agreement was made in 2022 between Mayor LaToya Cantrell and Mayor Luca Pissoglio, with Cantrell stating, "New Orleans and Ascona share the distinction of being among their respective continents' oldest city. New Orleans also shares with our sister city a deep appreciation and respect for jazz, as evidenced by our annual jazz festivals. I appreciate and welcome this cultural exchange of music, art, and ideas, while simultaneously sharing the richness and diversity of New Orleans."
Many New Orleans musicians, tourism professionals, and city employees make the trek to the picturesque region of southern Switzerland to take part in the immersive 10-day festival that features dozens of concerts and workshops for free.
Saying that you're from New Orleans when you visit one of our sister cities may help you make new acquaintances and friends faster than usual.
