Advertiser specials

InspireNOLA hosts annual turkey and ham giveaway on Tuesday (sponsored)

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InspireNOLA Charter Schools will host its annual drive-through turkey and ham giveaway as part of its NOLALove initiative that launched in early October. Local politicians and community leaders will join InspireNOLA students and volunteers in distributing nearly 1,000 turkeys and hams, along with a perishable food package, while supplies last. The giveaway will take place at Alice M. Harte Charter School (5300 Berkley Drive New Orleans, Louisiana 70131 ) on Tuesday, November 22, 2022, beginning at 10 am and is free and open to the public. The event is being sponsored by New Orleans’ Councilmember Freddie King III, U.S. Representative Troy Carter, State Senator Jimmy Harris, State Senator Gary Carter, State Representative Delisha Boyd, District Attorney Jason Williams, Elroy James, Wright Gray Trial Lawyers, Infinity Title, King Ja’mere Foundation, and the Benjamin Foundation. NOLALove is InspireNOLA’s response to the violence crisis in New Orleans by physically manifesting the word ‘love’ through community outreach, engagement, and collaboration.

Sister Helen Prejean to keynote four-day conference on impacts of crime 

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Sister Helen Prejean will deliver the keynote address for a four-day  conference on community reconciliation and the impacts of crime. The will  be held at the St. Charles Center for Faith + Action in New Orleans, 7100 St. Charles Ave. 

Designed and facilitated by crime survivors engaged in policy advocacy, wrongfully convicted people and trauma-informed experts, the conference features discussions and workshops  focused on successful outcomes through integrating reconciliation at different stages of the  criminal legal system. 

Dr. Maureen Walker, a psychologist who specializes in healing across race and gender, will open the conference on  Thursday evening (Nov. 17).  She is the author of When Getting Along Is Not  Enough.

events

This book sale is really, really big. Really.

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The Friends of the New Orleans Public Library’s Really, REALLY Big Book Sale is happening Saturday (Nov. 12) at the Latter Library. Held on the front porch of the historic building on St. Charles Avenue, the Really, REALLY Big Book Sale is the signature fundraiser of Friends of New Orleans Public Library. Sales of used books fund important New Orleans Public Library programs such as the Summer Fun Reading program, adult literacy classes and much more.

New Orleans Film Fest

Tribute to local music legends to close out New Orleans Film Festival (with video)

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The 33rd New Orleans Film Festival will close out its in-person screenings Tuesday (Nov. 8) with the locally made documentary film about four beloved music legends: Irma Thomas, Little Freddie King, Benny Jones of the Tremé Brass Band, and the late Ellis Marsalis. Music Pictures: New Orleans, directed by Ben Chace (Wah Do Dem, Sin Alas), will screen at the New Orleans Jazz Market. The 72-minute film gives four legacy portraits of iconic New Orleans musicians while in their 80s. 

Director Ben Chace and Irma Thomas, the “Soul Queen of New Orleans,” will be in attendance. To tell the story, the filmmaker uses recording sessions and interviews with the four personalities.

Festivals

Oak Street Po-Boy Festival is back, with music on four stages and a truck

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After a two-year absence, the Oak Street Po-Boy Festival, the popular event celebrating New Orleans’ beloved sandwich, will return Sunday (Nov. 6). The 14th annual festival will host more than 40 food vendors, four stages of music (plus a piano truck stage), an arts market and kids zone. The 2022 festival will also highlight the history of the po-boy with special programming and events, organizers said in a press release. ​The festival traditionally features a po-boy competition, where local restaurants battle for top honors.

events

Film festival screens a wide range of movies in Uptown venues

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The 33rd New Orleans Film Festival will have three Uptown venues this year to present a wide variety of films, many of which cannot be seen any other way. The festival will showcase dozens of films, including short programs, at the Prytania Uptown, 5339 Prytania St.; the New Orleans Jazz Market, 1436 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd.; and Second Line Stages, 800 Richard St. The festival opens Thursday (Nov. 3) and closes on Tuesday (Nov. 8).

events

Audubon Charter School revives its Fall Fête at Live Oak campus

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Audubon Charter School will hold its Fall Fête fundraiser and fair at its new Live Oak campus in the Irish Channel on Saturday (Nov. 5). After the festival’s two-year hiatus, Audubon PTO President Katie Pedroza expressed excitement, saying the festival is back bigger and better than ever with live music, activities, food and prizes. “We can’t wait to show off our new Live Oak campus. We will have bands, games, food, and spirits to be enjoyed in the backyard and under the oaks on Ninth Street.” Pedroza said. 

To kick off the event, artists such as Preservation Hall All-Stars, Sam Craft from Sweet Crude, the Miss Sophie Lee Band, Roland Cheramie and Friends, Coach O and His Band, and the NOCCA Jazz Ensemble will perform, a press release from Audubon Charter School said.

Halloween

Ghost Manor is ‘Puttin’ on the Ritz’ and ‘giving the devil his due’ (with video)

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Ghost Manor on Magazine Street is back with two new Broadway-style vignettes this Halloween season. David Gentry, who creates the Halloween extravaganza, prefers that it not be referred to as a light show — as it’s so much more. The spectacle is an immersive theme-park-inspired theatrical show with coordinated animatronic characters, special effects and elaborately orchestrated performances that celebrate the magic and whimsy of Halloween with singing skeletons, dancing zombies, flying ghosts and other creatures. “I like to think that this is what ghosts and ghouls do after they get home from their jobs haunting people,” Gentry said. “My place is like a speakeasy for ghosts to unwind and entertain themselves.”

“Puttin’ on the Ritz” with the Ghost Manor gang of ghouls (courtesy of Ghost Manor)
This year’s light, music and animatronic dancing skeleton sequences feature two distinctly different new shows.

books and literature

Tulane opens the Anne Rice vaults for ‘Absolutely Unpredictable’ exhibition (with video)

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Just in time for the annual celebration of the macabre, Tulane University Special Collections will open an exhibition of its Anne Rice collection on Thursday (Oct. 27). Absolutely Unpredictable: Anne Rice in the City of Transgression will display rare items and archival materials related to Rice and her works. The exhibition, free and open to the public, will be on display through Feb. 17, 2023, and will be celebrated with a costumes-optional reception on Thursday evening. 

The materials center on New Orleans cultural touchstones such as Carnival and the Southern Gothic genre.

Festivals

New Orleans Film Festival 2022 to open at expanded Second Line Stages

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The New Orleans Film Society will open its 33rd annual, Oscar-qualifying New Orleans Film Festival with “The Inspection,” the narrative feature debut from multi-year New Orleans Film Festival alum Elegance Bratton, on Thursday, Nov. 3. The NOFF screening schedule and film guide are now available at neworleansfilmfestival.org. In-person screenings will take place between Nov. 3 and Nov.