NEW ORLEANS – The French Market is announcing the following events:
• Wednesday, March 16, 2016 – 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. – St. Joseph’s Day “preview” at the Crescent City Farmers Market. View a “mini”-altar created by Sicilian sisters and daily French Market vendors The Portera Sisters as a preview to their full St. Joseph’s Day altar presentation on March 19 at the St. Joseph’s Day Celebration at the French Market; enjoy acoustic live music by Karl Kummerle, and a chance to talk with and buy from Tony Accardo, a Sicilian vendor whose family has been selling at the French Market for generations. We will also have brief presentations and talks, including a talk at 2:00 p.m. by Rosanna Giacona, Beuregard-Keyes Historic House tour guide, will speak about her Sicilian heritage and the Sicilian heritage of the French Market.
• Thursday, March 17, 2016 – 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. – Kilts of Many Colours, a New Orleans bagpipes and drums troupe, performs throughout the French Market District, beginning at the Flea Market at Barracks Street and meandering throughout the 6 block district, through the Farmers Market, the Shops on the Colonnade on Decatur, Dutch Alley, Washington Artillery Park, to end at the Shops at the Upper Pontalba on Jackson Square, at St. Peter Street.
• Saturday, March 19, 2016 – 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. – St. Joseph’s Day Celebration at the French Market. A St. Joseph’s Altar will be created by the Portera Sisters in the Farmers Market and will be available for viewing from 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. in the heart of the farmers market, between Ursulines and Gov Nicholls Streets, under the pavilion.
Presentations on the Farmers Market stage:
10:30 a.m. – Rosanna Giacona, Beuregard-Keyes Historic House tour guide, will speak about her Sicilian heritage, and the Sicilian heritage of New Orleans, the French Market, and Beauregard-Keyes House.
11:00 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. – “Oompah D’Italia!” with Julie Council: Traditional Italian music.
12:30 p.m. – St. Joseph’s Day Altars – Then & Now: A discussion with Liz Williams of the Southern Food and Beverage Museum.
1:00 p.m. – Sicilian Roots at the French Market: A conversation with the Portera Sisters.
2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. – Palermo Import/ Export Band performs music by Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Jimmy Durante, as well as New Orleans native Louis Prima, the “King of Swing.”
3:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. – Performances by the Muff-a-Lottas, a local dance troupe who will perform to the sounds of vintage Italian songs performed by the Palermo Import/ Export Band.
• Saturday, March 19, 2016 – 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. – Crescent Park Bazaar on the River, at Mandeville Street Wharf. This outdoor market features over 30 local artisans, children’s activities, food trucks and more on the Mandeville Wharf in the newly opened Crescent Park. The Bazaar is held the third Saturday of every month, with the exception of a winter and summer break.
Food Trucks: Mr. Choo and Frencheeze Food Truck
Entertainment: Shlomo Calvo and Patrick Cooper
