Guide to Halloween Activities in New Orleans

Guide to Halloween Activities in New Orleans
By
Karras Bommer


We don’t do nothin’ small here in New Orleans, did you notice our last hurricane? One thing that keeps us alive is our passion for celebration, for costuming, for a big-time reason to party and next to Mardi Gras, Halloween is the night. This is a down-home guide to Halloween activities in New Orleans, 2006.

Last Halloween, 2005, saw New Orleans in shambles. Many French-Quarter bars and nightclubs were actually serving drinks by candlelight which is why I didn’t miss the annual Halloween Night ritual of a seat and a drink at Lafitte’s. Lafitte’s always serves by candlelight, only the bar and the bathrooms are wired for electricity. The rest of the building remains as it was in 1772 but without the pirate Jean Lafitte. Of course, New Orleans being the haunted city that it is, there’s never a guarantee John Lafitte won‘t show up on Halloween. I am referring to Jean Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop, also acknowledged as the oldest bar in America, and since it's located on Bourbon Street, it is the perfect perch for watching the show.

The “show” is Bourbon Street itself. Costumes of every kind parade down Bourbon Street well into the early morning hours. This show is alive, incredible, and free. You can also watch the divine madness on the internet because there are live webcams strategically located up and down the street. In example, you can look at the top right glass panel of the door at Cats Meow on the corner of Bourbon and St. Peter streets - the actual address is 701 Bourbon Street - and wave at the guys from Nola.com while your picture transmits worldwide.