Chelsea Brasted
Chelsea Brasted is a New Orleans-born journalist and a West Banker by choice. She most recently served as The Times-Picayune's city columnist. You can follow Chelsea's work on Twitter and Facebook, and you can contact her through her website, ChelseaBrasted.com.
Mardi Gras: Here’s your DIY guide to making a costume
Consider this your guide to sewing, gluing and glittering your way to Mardi Gras DIY costume glory.
Surviving without second lines: how local vendors are making ends meet during a pandemic
A push to figure things out is exactly what’s keeping many of New Orleans’ other vendors, who rely on the city’s busy festival and second-line seasons, to stay afloat so far. Many have taken to pop-ups, partnerships with virtual events and other odd jobs to keep as much income flowing as possible.
Is the pandemic capable of changing the restaurant industry for the better?
That the restaurant industry will be changed forever seems obvious. But the unspoken question looms large: Is the pandemic actually capable of changing the restaurant industry for the better?
Opening a restaurant in a pandemic? These new NOLA spots have done it.
Opening a restaurant is already hard. Opening a restaurant during a pandemic? Well, that might be almost impossible. But these New Orleans chefs have done it.
UNO researchers want your help writing the history book of life during COVID-19
It’s a weird collection of thoughts, notes, photos, correspondence and signage, but these are the things that may, one day, help piece together the real, lived experience of the coronavirus in New Orleans and throughout the world.
Spinning into social: DJ Soul Sister turns to Spotify, creates playlists for every mood
Sometimes there are nights when she, like all of us, just lies awake and finds that doing nothing is a task unto itself. The New Orleans artist, who’s most at home behind a turntable and in front of a dancing crowd, has learned new ways to get new editions of her weekly WWOZ show on the air.
Social media to social distancing: Mayor Cantrell taps local influencers to communicate COVID-19
When it’s time to get the message out, Mayor LaToya Cantrell has enlisted the help of multiple local social media influencers to help spread the word — one that’s come in handy during the COVID-19 epidemic.
Silence on Sundays: the toll COVID-19 takes on second line culture
Sundays in New Orleans is for second line culture — by definition that means getting together. But in the times of the COVID-19 pandemic, the streets are now silent.
Whiplashed New Orleans musicians find new ways to use their voices as coronavirus silences city
Just days ago, social lockdowns prompted by the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic came crashing down on south Louisiana’s festival season, affecting hundreds of local musicians.
Twelve ways to help during the coronavirus epidemic
Just weeks ago, we were dancing in the streets and celebrating the beauty of life even as something sinister was snaking its way into our lives, and into our lungs.