Louellen Berger sets up her annual parody skeleton garden on St. Charles Ave. and State Street in New Orleans on Monday September 30 and Tuesday October 1, 2019 with the help of Manuel Chacon. The pun-dead skeletons rib national and local celebrities and pop culture in an effort to tickle the funny bone. Berger hopes to have Dem Bones completed for viewing by later in the week and they will be on view through Halloween. She tends to keep the more colorful skeletons in the shade so they don’t fade in the sun. Once a few years back, Hurricane Nate was initially forecast to come through the area and she was on the fence on whether or not to take the display down for the storm. A family member suggested it won’t be good for recovery efforts after a storm for a random skull to be found in somewhere else in the city, so she took them down. Fortunately, the storm passed without incident. She says her grandchildren help come up with some ideas and the puns and funny sayings help the younger children learn language and idioms. Photo by Matthew Hinton

A✌cool front ✌

by Clint Durrett | October 3, 2019

It’s “Summer 2: Summer Harder” fall, y’all! We’d all like the temperatures to be on at least the other side of the 90s, because I’m pretty sure we like our faces not becoming a reenactment of opening the Ark of the Covenant in “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” It’s hard to live that pumpkin-spiced life when your sweat beats past your deodorant the way Cam Jordan would barrel through kindergarteners in a game of red rover. A ✌cool front ✌is allegedly on the way. Sure, mmhmm. So until that cool front hits around “Never p.m.” next week, you might as well get out and suck it up and sweat it out with some fun in the sun.

 

Storyland reopens its gates

A treasured corner of City Park is back after receiving $800,000 of renovations and improvements since it closed in July. The Storyland theme park first opened in 1956 as one of many similar smaller children’s parks across the nation. It is now one of the few still open, and the massive facelift should help ensure its continued longevity as a mainstay for New Orleans youth. Now it features a real NASA spacesuit, a spaceship devoted to science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) that recreates an actual launch and tons of other new additions. Click here to read more about it. 

 

Make ’em say YUM

Master P, aka Percy Miller, is a man of many talents: rapper, producer, philanthropist, mentor, actor, MTV Video Music Award nominee, reality show star and executive. Now, he can add the title of restaurant owner to that list. Big Poppa’s Burger in Gretna offers juicy burgers, crispy fried chicken sandwiches and vegetarian options. Click here to read if our visit made us “bout it, bout it.”

 

The biggest Japanese Festival in the Gulf South

New Orleans has been a melting pot of different cultures since its inception, and it is home to a number of communities encompassing different South, Southeast and East Asian heritage. This city is the host of the biggest Japanese fest in the Gulf South, which is being held at the New Orleans Museum of Art on Saturday. Click here to read more about the fun!

 

What’s Happening This Weekend

Fri. Oct. 4, 2019

Bourbon Tasting and Cocktail Makin’ | 7 – 9 p.m. | Seven Three Distilling | $20

Cocktails! Free swag! Bourbon before it’s bottled! We have your attention yet? Seven Three Distilling is one of the city’s best liquor makers. On Friday, they’ll take you behind the scenes of their production, offering a last chance to taste their Bywater Bourbon before it even hits the bottle. Come through to learn how to make special cocktails and get your own Very Local stainless steel cocktail shaker.

Marketing & Millennials – a Networking Mixer and Panel Discussion | 7-10 p.m. | The Mercantile Hotel | $15

This panel, containing some of the city’s top social influencers, will talk about content creation, social media marketing, entrepreneurship, marketing and growing your brand.

Sat. Oct. 5, 2019 (FEST ALERT)

Beignet Fest | 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. | City Park Festival Grounds | $5 admission, food prices vary

This food fest has the extra sweet mission of raising awareness and funds for autism programs in Greater New Orleans. In true NOLA style, the event features more than 30 different kinds of beignet dishes, live music, a Beer Garden, an Artist Market and a Kids Village.

Treme Fall Fest | 11 a.m. – 7 p.m. | St Augustine Catholic Church | Free

This festival is in its fifth year and celebrates one of the city’s oldest neighborhoods. Performers include Bon Bon Vivant, Dawn RichardThe Free Agents Brass Band and Kermit Ruffins.

Algiers Fest | Noon – 9 p.m. | 2500 General Myer Avenue | Free

This celebration honors the New Orleans military community and is free to the public. Performers include the Marine Corps Band, Little Freddie King and the Hot 8 Brass Band.

Loup Garou Fest | 8 p.m. – Midnight | Bar Redux | $5

Called “Loup Garou”, this film program specialty will take place over two nights, Oct. 5 and 6 (Saturday and Sunday), and mix the efforts of musicians, artists and filmmakers toward the call of darkness and that which crawls and creeps on screen and in our hearts and minds. Local film groups and collectives such as Terror Optics, Pyramid FX and Creepy Fest (on which Terror Optics is currently doing a documentary).

Sun. Oct. 6, 2019

Goat Yoga | Paradigm Gardens | 9 a.m. | $30

Come to Paradigm Gardens, among the flowers and veggies and with the adorable Cameroonian pygmy goats, to do a real sun salutation and downward goat. They’ve partnered with Move Your Brass to provide you the best goat yoga experience around, and a scrumptious and nutritious breakfast of scratch-made baked goods and coffee from Gracious Bakery is included.

“Monty Python and the Holy Grail” | 10 p.m. | The Prytania | $11.75

King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table embark on a surreal, low-budget search for the Holy Grail, encountering many, very silly obstacles. ONE SHOW ONLY at The Prytania.

What Else You Should Know

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Clint Durrett

Clint Durrett

Hi. I’m Clint.
I’m the Local Market Manager for Very Local New Orleans. I’ve lived in New Orleans since 2001 and been living my best life in this rad place since that year.
I have 10 years of broadcast journalism and digital media experience. Before Very Local New Orleans, I worked for WDSU-TV – producing, product developing, digital media managing– I’ve done it all. I’ve seen first-hand the trials we’ve suffered in this city and the celebrations we’ve enjoyed. I love New Orleans. It’s home.
I’m going to work my hardest to bring you the content and experiences you care about to live your best life here in one of the best cities on the planet.
I love finding things to do here – concerts, food, drinks, nerding out, etc. And I love sharing those things with others.
Contact me via email. Gimme a shout on social. If you see something you think we should know about, hit me up. If you see something that needs fixing on the site, ditto. I want this website to be yours, too. Not just one I manage, but one we as a community and New Orleanians use to help us live our best lives.

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Download the Very Local app to stream all of the Very Local original series for FREE!