We’ve got your weekend: Drinking, eating, and all that merry goodness

Jessica Normington’s Fruitful Heights, 28″x41″ Charcoal, acrylic, graphite, frottage, woodcut on Okawara rice paper. (Photo: Second Story Gallery)

Wednesday, November 7-Sunday, November 11/Parleaux Beer Lab (634 Lesseps Street) and Blessed Francis Seelos Parish (3053 Dauphine Street): It is time to live on the fringes or live on the fringes or visit the fringes or get yourself to the Fringe Festival because it is happening this week. We are spotlighting two show from Goat in the Road Productions. They will be performing Shakesbeer: Romeo & Juliet, a 30-minute version of the world’s most well-known love story, set in a bar on Nov. 8 – 10 at 7:00 PM pm and 9:00 PM, Nov. 11 at 7: 00 PM at Parleaux Beer Lab. They will also be putting on Goat in the Schools: Grandmas Can’t Behave, four student-written plays performed by professional actors  on Nov. 11 at 4:00 PM at Blessed Francis Seelos Parish. Tickets range, but usually run you about $10, and for more on The Fringe Festival and all its fringy offerings, you can check out their site here. 

Thursday, November 8/ Saint Joseph Abbey Church (75376 River Rd., Covington): Organist Derrick Ian Meador is coming to Covington to show what he can do on the organ. was awarded first prize in the Competition for Organ Performance of the Mississippi Music Teachers Association in 1999 and 2003 and division alternate in the Collegiate Artist Competition of the Music Teachers National Association in 2005. He will be bringing all those credentials, and his pure raw talent to Saint Joseph Abbey Church starting at 7:30 PM. This event is free and open to the public. 

Thursday, November 8/Urban South Brewery (1645 Tchoupitoulas Street):  Make Music NOLA (MMN) will host its annual Adopt-An-Instrument Drive at Urban South Brewery to raise funds for their 2018/19 programs. Make Music NOLA, currently in its eighth year, provides tuition-free music instruction to local students who are eligible for free or reduced lunch. Each week, MMN provides over fifty-six hours of general music classes and string instruction to over five hundred students at nine different locations around the city. Additionally, students enrolled in MMN perform up to fifteen concerts a year, participate in guest artist visits and masterclasses, and have the opportunity to attend professional performances.  The event begins at 6:00 PM and goes until 9:00 PM with the Blake Amos Quartet performing from 6:30-8:30 PM. The event is all ages and will feature a raffle with items donated by McHardy’s, Krewe Du Optic, Southwest Airlines, and Three Muses.

Saturday, November 10/One Eyed Jacks (615 Toulouse Street): It is the end of an era, folks. We are talking about the last brawl for NOLAW (New Orleans Ladies Arm Wrestling). They will be holding their final event on Saturday, and it’s going to be big. Bicep big! They will have music, costumes, strippers, dancers, and — of course — ladies arm wrestling. The event begins at 8:00 PM, the cover is $10 (with proceeds going to support New Orleans Abortion Fund, Inc.,). Bring your glitter, your energy, and your small bills for bets and make this final NOLAW one we’ll all never forget. For full details on the event, you can check out their event page here. 

Saturday, November 10/Second Story Gallery (2372 St. Claude): The Second Story Gallery (in the New Orleans Healing Center) is presenting the joint exhibition of Ron Bennett: Coddiwomple, and Jessica Normington: Staring Into The Abyss. Ron Bennett is an artist based out of New Orleans, whose exhibition, Coddiwople, refers to
traveling purposefully towards a vague destination, which is a metaphor for his recent painting. Jessica Normington incorporates printmaking, painting, and drawing techniques on Okawara rice paper. Her imagery is derived from the natural, terrestrial plane of the physical swamp coupled with the dark, mysterious quality that the swamp embodies within the imagination. The opening starts at 6:00 PM, and the gallery is open daily from 9:00 AM until 8:00 PM. 

Saturday, November 10/New Orleans Museum of Art (1 Collins Diboll Circle): It is time to glitter; although, we know it’s always time to and for glitter in New Orleans, but this time it’s specific. It’s Odyssey 2018: All That Glitters. Now in its 52nd year, The Odyssey Ball raises the funds necessary to support NOMA’s nationally-recognized exhibitions and educational programs, which bring more than 290,000 annual visitors to the museum and Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden. Odyssey 2018 features NOMA’s  fall exhibition, The Orléans Collection, featuring selections from the  collection of New Orleans’ namesake, Philippe II, Duke of Orléans (1689-1723); in NOMA’s Great Hall is Lina Iris Viktor: A Haven. A Hell. A Dream Deferred. In her first major museum presentation, artist Lina Iris Viktor’s work at NOMA explores the factual and fantastical narratives surrounding America’s involvement in the founding of the West African nation of Liberia. All of this will be part of the event, which begins at 7:00 PM (patron party), and the tickets are $100. For more information, check out NOMA’s website. 

Sunday, November 11/Downtown Covington: The Three Rivers Art Festival in downtown Covington, one of the largest juried art festivals in the region, is celebrating its 22nd year as one of the most popular events in Southeast Louisiana. This free event will be held on Saturday and Sunday, November 10 and 11, 2018 from 10:00 AM until  5:00 PM. Each year, Three Rivers draws more than 60,000 people to downtown Covington to shop the work of more than 200 juried artists from all over the United States, with work ranging from painting to metalwork and everything in between. Additional activities include live music, a children’s discovery area, live art demonstrations, food vendors and more. For full details on the festival, you can check out their event page here. 

Sunday, November 11/Oak Street: The 12th Annual Oak Street Po-Boy Festival is back. It will take to the streets, Oak Street to be exact, from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM.  Coming back to defend as the 2017 overall winner is Red Fish Grill with its champion BBQ Oyster Po-Boy. Also, Vincent’s Italian Cuisine, whose “Godfather” po-boy of meatballs, Italian sausage and brisket topped with mozzarella cheese, fresh basil and red sauce is a crowd favorite and winner of the
2017 “Best Pork” entry, will also be back on Oak Street in 2018. There will be many more submissions that workshop the sandwich of the south as well as music, art, and fun. You can find out full details here.