events

PRC’s Holiday Home Tour showcases Garden District homes, plus local authors at a Holiday Book Fest

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A New Orleans tradition — the Preservation Resource Center’s Holiday Home Tour — has returned to its pre-pandemic format. The PRC’s 47th annual Holiday Home Tour opens the doors to six Garden District homes and one bonus building, all dressed up for the holidays. Festivities also include live musical performances, a gift boutique, book signings, author talks and more. The PRC’s Holiday Boutique offers handmade jewelry, artwork and other gift items. As part of the boutique, the PRC will host its second annual Holiday Book Fest with a full schedule of talks by local authors. The PRC Holiday Book Fest and Holiday Home Tour Boutique are free and open to the public — no ticket required.

Christmas

Uptown holiday concerts make the season bright

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You can fill your ears and your spirit with sweet yuletide sounds, and enjoy a respite from holiday frenzy, at Uptown holiday concerts during December. Traditionally an Uptown mecca for music lovers, especially during the holidays, Trinity Episcopal Church on Jackson Avenue is currently under renovation and will not be presenting their usual holiday concerts. However, they plan to be back next year. There are plenty of other choices, listed below. Whether your taste runs to classical, gospel, jazz, funk or reggae, you can find a concert to make the season brighter.

Uncategorized

Merriment on Magazine kicks off the holiday season

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The quirky collection of small businesses on Magazine Street provides an enjoyable, locally based opportunity to cross items off on your Christmas list. The Magazine Street Merchants Association is sweetening holiday shopping with “Merriment on Magazine” on Saturday (Dec. 3). The participating businesses will offer special treats and exclusive holiday offerings for Saturday only, from noon to 5 p.m.

Dating back to the early days of the expansion of the city beyond the original French Quarter, Magazine Street is a six-mile stretch of businesses, restaurants and bars with their own character. The day provides shopping specials beyond Black Friday and Small Business Saturday, notes Natalie Steuer, the director of the Casey Langteau Art Gallery, a  Merriment on Magazine particpant.

food and drink

Barrel Proof is hosting Miracle on Magazine Street

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Barrel Proof is hosting its Miracle Pop-up, a Christmas cocktail bar, for the fourth year. Through Dec. 28, Barrel Proof’s proverbial halls will be decked from top to bottom in glittering wrapping, tinsel, trees and lights. Miracle is an immersive experience in which bars are transformed into holiday wonderlands to serve high-end Christmas cocktails in festive mugs. 

Miracle Pop-up is the brainchild of New York City bar owners Greg Boehm and Jeannette Kaczorowski. In 2013, their bar Mace was set to open on East Ninth Street in Manhattan, but with the holidays looming, the business wasn’t quite patron-ready.

events

Mart for art’s sake: Wax print creations featured at holiday Arts Market

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Uptown resident Adriane Butler was first introduced to the Arts Market as a customer. “I attended one of the Arts Markets and thought it was a excellent way to support local creators,” Butler said. She began making her own fabric creations about three years ago and, early on in the pandemic, she became a participant in the Arts Market. “I got great feedback about my design work, and have been doing it ever since,” she said. The Arts Markets, produced by Arts New Orleans, take place two Saturdays a month, once on City Park’s Great Lawn and once in Marsalis Harmony Park (formerly Palmer Park).

Advertiser specials

Turkey and ham giveaway hosted by InspireNOLA 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, Nov. 22, beginning at 10 a.m. The event is free and open to the public. The line for the giveaway will begin at the back gate of the school on Berkley Drive and continue to Eton Street and then to McArthur Boulevard.

events

St. Catherine’s Day Parade hangs up its hat

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For more than a decade, the Garden District has provided the backdrop for the St. Catherine’s Day Hat Parade on the Sunday before Thanksgiving. Francophiles and those who simply enjoyed parading in a fancy hat would meet at St. Charles Avenue and Pleasant Street, sip on sparkling wine and walk a brief route to the sounds of live gypsy jazz. The parade organizers recently announced they have poured their last glass of bubbly.

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.