Festivals

Broadmoor Fest offers full musical lineup at ‘neighborhood extravaganza’

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Broadmoor Fest will bring live music, local foods, children’s activities and more to the Broadmoor neighborhood on Saturday (Oct. 1). Broadmoor Community Church is presenting the free one-day festival. It will feature performances by T Marie & Bayou Ju Ju, Sharon Martin, Righteous Wrong, the Jackson Square Allstars and the Broadmoor Community Church Praise Team. The festival will be held on the church grounds at 2021 S. Dupre St.

Advertiser specials

Second Line Arts Collective: Music Education from Recess to Record Deals (sponsored)

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In 2016, professional musicians Darrian Douglas and Gregory Agid were perplexed. New Orleans is a world renowned music city- Why were so many local musicians struggling to make ends meet? They soon discovered that many artists were lacking business skills and too often were depending on playing endless gigs to pay the bills. 88% of musicians they surveyed had zero music business exposure throughout high school or college. They decided to change the narrative by founding Second Line Arts Collective, a music education nonprofit for aspiring artists to grow their industry skills and knowledge base.

land use & development

Redevelopment of the famed Dew Drop Inn is officially underway

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Officials gathered in Central City on Thursday (July 7) to officially break ground on the restoration of the famed Dew Drop Inn, the city’s leading Black music venue for three mid-century decades. The groundbreaking was complemented by performances from the Beautiful Creole Apache Tribe and Cyril Neville. Speaking at the ceremony, Mayor LaToya Cantrell said the city is working to redevelop the section of Central City where the Dew Drop Inn Hotel & Lounge at 2836 LaSalle St. can serve as an anchor. “The city of New Orleans is making sure we’re leveraging our dollars in this immediate area,” she said.

business

Portside Lounge, Caribbean outpost in Central City, is set to close

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Portside Lounge, the Central City tiki bar that’s been serving up tropical cocktails since 2017, is closing, an announcement on Facebook said Wednesday. “It is with an extremely heavy heart that I make the announcement that I will be closing down The Portside Lounge,” the post reads. “It’s been a wild ride with a ton of amazing people, artists, and musicians, but nothing lasts forever and all good things must come to an end.”

The bar will host its grand finale this weekend with music every night, including  The Unnaturals on the Fourth of July, its last day. The bar is coming full circle, according to the Facebook post. The Unnaturals, a local surf rock band with attitude, played the bar’s first show.

events

Porch concerts, a remnant of pandemic shutdowns, are too popular not to continue

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A product of the pandemic, the Constantinople Stages free porch concerts are continuing. You can find the porch stage at 1201 Constantinople St., near Coliseum Street.  Bring your chairs, drinks, friends and family. And remember to tip the musicians; cash or Venmo is accepted. The following concerts have been scheduled. For updates, visit the Constantinople Stage Facebook page.

food and drink

‘Out of time and options,’ Live Oak Cafe is latest casualty of pandemic losses

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The Live Oak Cafe — the epitome of Oak Street’s laid-back, creative vibe — is closing its doors Sunday (May 8) after its Mother’s Day brunch. Announcing the closure on the cafe’s Facebook page, chef and owner Clare Leavy said that the uptick in business during Carnival season was not enough to overcome the losses experienced during the pandemic. “Simply put, we are out of time and options,” Leavy stated. The cafe is known for its fresh, down-home renditions of classic brunch fare with dishes such as Sweet Potato Benedict and its beloved Shrimp & Grits. And every meal at Live Oak has been served with a side of live music.

Festivals

Buku Music & Art Festival celebrates a decade at Mardi Gas World on Saturday and Sunday

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The 2022 Buku Music & Art Festival, a celebration of the progressive subculture of New Orleans, will take place at Mardi Gras World, 1380 Port of New Orleans Place, on Saturday (March 26) and Sunday (March 27) from 1 to 11 p.m.

Residents in the Lower Garden District and Irish Channel may feel the impact of traffic. Parking will be in the Convention Center parking lots. The festival attracts about 20,000 music fans. No street closures are anticipated; however, traffic congestion is expected along Tchoupitoulas Street. Buku organizers have contracted officers assigned to traffic and perimeter detail.

Festivals

Freret Street helps revive festival season on Saturday. Here’s the music lineup.

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On Saturday (March 26), the Freret Street Festival will take over the popular restaurant and entertainment corridor. The six-block street party features 18 bands music on three stages (see the lineup below). The headliners include Chubby Carrier & the Bayou Swamp Band, Squirrel Queen, Erica Falls and Kermit Ruffins & the BBQ Swingers. Alongside the 46 brick-and-mortar restaurants, bars and shops on Freret, the free festival includes a food court featuring top local chefs and more than 200 arts and crafts vendors. Plus there’s a children’s area with inflatables, a petting zoo, alligator meet and greets, arts and crafts, clowns and stilt walkers.

Super Sunday

The wild, wild creation: Mardi Gras Indians will take to the streets on Sunday

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Masking Indians will gather in Central City this weekend for Super Sunday, a procession and festival celebrating their heritage and culture in a magnificent display of hand-sewn suits, singing, dancing and chanting. Super Sunday is free and open to the public. The festival takes place in and around A.L. Davis Park with food and drink vendors, live music and cultural activities. The procession begins and ends at the park. The Hot 8 Brass Band, Young Pinstripe Brass Band, TBC Brass Band, Rechell Cook, 21st Century Brass Band, Regeneration Band, D.J. Captain Charles, D.J. Jubilee, Keedy Black and the BRW R&B Singing Group will be among the entertainers.

music

For rapper Alfred Banks, Uptown is ‘where I came from, where I’m at and where I want to go’

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A few days after hip-hop artist Alfred Banks returned to his Uptown apartment from a Hurricane Ida evacuation, his ceiling caved in. Mold began to penetrate his apartment. So he left for Dallas and, after some texts to a few connections, ended up doing three shows there. “Not coming from a lot financially, not having financial backing and not being signed to a record label, you have to be resourceful as an independent artist,” he said. “It’s just mandatory.”

Banks, 30, is making a full-time living from his music for the first time in his life.