events

Porch concerts respond to canceled music festivals

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Porch concerts had been popping up throughout the city when Milan area residents Natalia and Guy Gonzalez began hosting concerts on their Marengo Street front porch. The tradition started for the Gonzalezes in the fall of 2020, after a musician asked Natalia’s 94-year-old mother if she would put on a porch concert to help out the Radio Bird Quartet. She agreed, and then Natalia took on the project. “We have had Radio Bird, of course, as well as The Walrus, a Beatles cover band,” Natalia Gonzalez said. “In fact, recently when their Zony Mash show got canceled, they came to our porch and played the concert there.”

They are now presenting shows twice monthly, with Mia Borders booked for an upcoming show.

opinion

Viewpoint: Will proof of vaccination be required for festivals and Saints games?

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The Delta variant is quickly overtaking America. It already accounts for 93% of Covid-19 infections. To combat it, government and the private sector are announcing new mandates almost daily. Anyone planning to pay $200 or more to see the Rolling Stones at Jazz Fest in October must surely be wondering if a vaccination card or a recent negative Covid-test will be required for admission. Without such precautions, the Jazz and Heritage Festival, French Quarter Festival, Saints games and other fall special events could become superspreaders unlike any seen before. 

Jazz Fest producer Quint Davis has always said the Fest will adhere to the prevailing Covid guidelines.

Uptown team wins top prizes at Hogs for the Cause

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An Uptown team of amateur pitmasters was named the 2021 champion over the weekend at Hogs for the Cause. The celebration of smoked meat returned to the festival scene at a new site in Belle Chasse. The barbecue and music festival hosted over 80 pork-punny teams from around the country along with musical acts like Anders Osborne and Old Crow Medicine Show. The Grand Champs, Lard and in Charge, are a true Cinderella story. In a field of teams consisting of 30 to 50 members, the Lards got it done with less than a dozen dedicated barbecue warriors.

church

Irish Channel St. Patrick’s Day Club celebrates faith and friendship at Mass

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Members of the Irish Channel St. Patrick’s Day Club gathered Saturday (March 14) for their annual Mass at St. Mary’s Assumption Church that traditionally precedes their Irish Channel St. Patrick’s Day parade. This year, the parade hosted by the group founded in 1947 was canceled by the city due to the spread of the coronavirus.

crime

COVID-19 updates: What’s closed and what’s open as the number of cases rises

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Editor’s note: This story posted before Gov. John Bel Edwards issued a declaration closing all schools. The schools information below is outdated. During a conference call Thursday (March 12) afternoon, Mayor LaToya Cantrell gave the number of presumptive coronavirus cases in New Orleans: 11. About two hours later, the city’s webpage on the health crisis stated there were 15 in New Orleans. On Friday morning, the number increased to 23.

events

BUKU Project moves festival to Labor Day weekend

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The BUKU Art + Music Project announced today that its 2020 festival scheduled for March 20-21 will be rescheduled. This reluctant change is due to the impacts of COVID-19, the coronavirus. A notice from Mayor Latoya Cantrell’s office stated that BUKU could not take place as planned, according to an official statement from the festival team. “It’s a tough pill to swallow, but we respect their decision, and instead of crying we’ve been planning…fast,” the statement from BUKU reads. “With the help of so many people, and motivated by the vision of y’all dancing and headbanging, we are rescheduling BUKU 2020 to take place over Labor Day Weekend.”

arts, books and music

Tulane cancels Book Festival, moves all its classes online over COVID-19 concerns

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From Tulane University

The New Orleans Book Festival at Tulane University has canceled its inaugural event for 2020, citing concerns over the coronavirus pandemic and adherence to university protocol. Tickets purchased for keynote addresses with John Grisham, Michael Lewis and Malcolm Gladwell will be fully refunded within 10 business days. The book festival had planned to run March 19-21, and festival organizers estimated around 30,000 visitors would attend the three-day event on Tulane’s uptown campus. However, the top priority for the festival organizers is that of the health and safety of the general public, authors, volunteers and Tulane’s faculty, staff and students. On Wednesday afternoon, Tulane University announced it would reduce the concentration of people on campus by conducting classes online beginning March 23 and through the end of the semester, reducing the number of gatherings and eliminating non-essential travel.

arts, books and music

French Film Festival movies look to the past to understand the present

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By Christian Willbern, Loyola Student News Service

While sitting in her hotel room complaining about the WiFi in Metz, France, Marthe Cohn scrunches her nose and sticks her tongue out at the camera, conveying how at the age of 98, the World War II spy is still a tour de force. Cohn stars in “Chichinette: The Accidental Spy,” a documentary portraying the tiny-but-mighty woman’s extraordinary battle against the Nazi regime during World War II. This was just one of several films exhibited during the New Orleans Film Society’s 23rd French Film Festival. The New Orleans French Film Festival screened 21 contemporary and classic francophone films between Feb. 27 and March 4 at the Prytania Theatre.

Festivals

Celebrate National Sandwich Day at Oak Street Po-Boy Festival on Sunday

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The 13th annual Oak Street Po-Boy Festival, with more than 60 variations of New Orleans’ signature sandwich, will take over the Oak Street business corridor from Carrollton Avenue to the river on Sunday, which is National Sandwich Day. Festivities open at 10 a.m. with a second-line starting at Oak Street and Eagle and featuring the Merry Antoinettes, the Krewe of Condiments and the celebrity judges, including food writers Ian McNulty and Kim Ranjbar; local broadcast journalists Bruce Katz, Chris Franklin and Carla Pesono; football podcaster Marlin “Big Fav” Favorite; Saints superfan Leroy “Whistle Monster” Mitchell; actor Bryan Batt; and chef Bill Laderer. Live local music on four stages provides a sound track for the festival from start to finish and, on the Maple Leaf stage, beyond. Acts include Soul Project, Blind Texas Marlin, Dave Jordan and the NIA, the Lamont Landers Band, Roadside Glorious, John Mooney and Funky Monkey with Arsene DeLay. This year’s art market will feature 19 local jewelers, painters and crafts.

arts, books and music

New Orleans Film Fest: Screenings at Prytania, prominence for Louisiana films

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The New Orleans Film Society kicks off the 30th New Orleans Film Festival at tonight (Oct. 16) with the Opening Night Film Marriage Story. Uptown’s Prytania Theater will screen over a dozen films, including Motherless Brooklyn, directed by and starring Edward Norton, and The Long Shadow, by Louisiana director Daniel Lafrentz. Shorts from the state and big-budget films are some festival highlights coming to the neighborhood this year. Of the 6,500 submissions from 104 countries, 232 “visionary, thought-provoking films that represent a wealth of perspectives” made it into the festival.