Festigals Parade, Mardi Gras World and Food!

I love sharing my city my way but one of the best things about having out-of-town guests is that it can push you to be a tourist in your own city. My mother has been coming to New Orleans throughout her life so we have things we ALWAYS like doing – like getting beignets at Cafe du Monde or snoballs (from my fav – SnoWizard). But we also like exploring new things, even taking a tour. Last week had plenty of both.

New Year/Sugar Bowl Parade

2015 was a great year in so many ways. I got to teach a graduate class at UNO instructing directors how to work with actors, I acted in several more movies and I completed another book (though a series of computer crashes prevented me from publishing The Secret of the Other Mother: A Charlotte Reade Mystery in 2015 – hoping to have it out my the end of January). And like so many things here, I got to celebrate it all with a parade and fireworks. The New Year’s Eve Parade was actually put on by the Sugar Bowl and its many sponsors and the festive Kern Studios floats reflected that. 

I’m So New Orleans #ImSoNewOrleans

The Twitter-verse and Facebook have been buzzing for the last couple days with all things New Orleans. No one seems to know who started the #ImSoNewOrleans trend but it’s brought the city together in a way usually reserved for football season. People are sharing childhood memories, old photos of long-gone places and jokes and trends so inside, only someone who grew up here could truly get them. I didn’t. I wasn’t born here and I don’t have a good answer to, “Where’d you go to school?” (meaning which local high school), but I’m so New Orleans that my family owned property on St. Charles in the 1700’s. Okay, that doesn’t help me decipher some of the local references or share some of the memories, but it does make me feel like I’m home. 

Favorite Things in NOLA 2013

The categories are: Food & Beverage, Music & Entertainment, Culture, Shopping and Giving & More. Anything named previously in my Favorite Things in NOLA 2012 is marked with an Asterix*. Most items have links to their site, but if you’d like to know more, use the search window on the right to find photos, videos, history and stories.

This year, I’ve added a gallery of photos. The first photos are of items listed and the last half are of stuff I love in New Orleans from Creole tomatoes to Ashley the Traffic Tranny.

I’m also revealing Your Favorite Posts of 2013.

3 – Saints Soundtrack Vol. 2

2 – Street Musicians – Tanya and Dorise

1 – Endymion Extravaganza – My First Ball! – which is also your favorite post of all time.

Street Kings and Krewe of Boo Parade

In 2010, Red Bull sponsored a battle of the bands between popular local brass bands – calling it Street Kings. This year, they reprised the contest packing Claiborne Ave under the I-10 overpass. This year’s bands included TBC, New Breed, New Creations and the Original Pinettes – the city’s only all-female brass band. Like most events in New Orleans, there were craft booths, food booths and bars a-plenty. The winning band receives mentorship from Trombone Shorty during 3 days of recording time in the Red Bull Studios. Trombone Shorty also served as one of the judges along with Kermit Ruffins, Walter Ramsey (of the former winners – Stooges Brass Band), WGNO’s Lebron Joseph and Offbeat Magazine’s Jan Ramsey. The event was hosted by the energetic duo of DJ Slab 1 and Glen David Andrews.

Mardi Gras Bead Mural

There’s never a shortage of fun, creative things to do in New Orleans but sometimes you stumble onto something truly special. Stephan Wanger of Galeria Alegria is attempting to beat his own Guinness World Record for largest beaded mural with a 42 foot wide, 8 foot high panorama of the NOLA skyline made almost entirely of recycled Mardi Gras Beads. This eco-friendly artwork is being created with the cooperation of Arc of Greater New Orleans and St. Michael Special School, both of whom collect throws in support of their organizations and employ people with special needs, as well as the Drew Brees affiliated Companies with a Mission Super Service Challenge. Best of all – it’s being created inside Blaine Kern’s Mardi Gras World!