French Film Festival, ‘a mini Cannes,’ set to open at the Prytania Theatre

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The annual New Orleans French Film Festival returns to the Prytania Theatre beginning Thursday, March 9, and running through Tuesday, March 13. For its 26th festival, the New Orleans Film Society will bring together 13 features and three short films from Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Switzerland and the United States. All screenings will be held at the historic Prytania Theatre or the Prytania Theatres at Canal Place. Part of the lineup will also be available to stream online here from March 9 to March 19. The films will all be shown in their original French or Kouri-Vini (Louisiana Creole) language with English subtitles.

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.

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.

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.

Viewpoint: Don’t let the latest Covid variant ruin your Jazz Fest

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The thousands of tourists and locals who will attend the long-awaited New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival will surely cause an increase in cases of Covid-19 and it newest sub-variant, BA.2. A friend coming in for the festival wants to wear his mask at the Fair Grounds. While a good idea, that’s probably not very practical considering the heat and the ongoing consumption of libations at Jazz Fest and the evening events. Ensuring each attendee takes the personal responsibility to avoid infection at this mostly outdoors event is a better solution. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, reported Tuesday that the coronavirus has infected nearly 60% of people in the U.S. at least once, including about 75% of children.

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.

Caravane Festival to celebrate all things French on Saturday

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Alliance Française de La Nouvelle-Orléans is presenting Caravane Festival — le jour de la francophonie — on Saturday (March 19) at the AFNO Garden District home. The French language and Francophone culture is celebrated on International Francophonie Day, officially March 20, throughout France and its former colonies. AFNO invites its neighbors to participate in the international Caravane des dix mots (Caravane of Ten Words) project to promote, in partnership with Nous Foundation, the voices of Louisiana in the French-speaking world. In the Caravane des dix mots, French speakers from all over the world give their definitions of 10 chosen words, definitions that depend on one’s experience, history or even the other languages one speaks. This project is shared with French speakers from Quebec, Benin, Burundi, Egypt, Togo, China and even Belgium and Romania, who will also give their definitions of divulgâcher, décalé, ébaubi, époustouflant, farcer, kaï, méduser, pince-moi, saperlipopette et tintamarre.