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The Annual French Quarter Fest is begins this evening and will continue throughout the weekend. The Festival kicks off with a  live performance by the Rebirth Brass Band, who recently earned themselves a Grammy Award. Now, Rebirth isn’t the only musical sensation hitting the streets. Over the next few days performers such as, Cyril Neville and the Royal Southern Brotherhood, Amanda Shaw and Troy “Trombone Shorty”, Deacon John, Jeremy Davenport, and Irvin Mayfield and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra will be hosting live concerts throughout the historic quarter.

This festival is free of charge and features affordable sample-sized portions of food from the area’s restaurants. Attendees of the fest are most excited for the NOLA restaurant’s stuffed chicken wings, Royal House’s charbroiled oysters, and also Antoine’s famed baked Alaska with chocolate sauce! It all sounds good to this Southern Celebrity Gossiper, and it sounds like a great opportunity for some celeb sightings! With named actors such as Tom Cruise, Leo DiCaprio, and now Denzel Washington all in town for filming- hopefully, we’ll catch a glimpse of some of them sampling those oysters!

From everyone at Southern Celebrity Gossip, we’re wishing you a fun and safe weekend- and we hope you enjoy the fest!

Check out the line-up!
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   The last weekend in April and first weekend in May marks the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. This year’s impressive line-up (which is available on their official site) includes the one and only Bonnie Raitt. Raitt rose to fame in the late 1970’s and remained there with hits like “Nick of Time” and “Something to Talk About”. Over the course of her career, this soulful American-blues singer has released more than a dozen albums. Her last album, in 2005, however marked the start of a 7 year hiatus from recording. Raitt enjoyed time off as an audience to the musical community. But, Southern Celebrity Gossip is happy to report that Bonnie is BACK with a brand new album to accompany her appearance at this year’s Jazz Fest. The new album, “Slipstream” features the soon-to-be hit single “Right Down the Line”. You can watch the video of this song on youtube. Everyone is excited for the singer’s show at Jazz Fest, and for her re-entry into writing and performing. Raitt is quoted saying, “you can be off only so long when you have this in your blood."

For more on this story, visit NOLA.com.

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Television anchorwoman, Hoda Kotb is no stranger to New Orleans. She got some of her early television training working as a WWL-TV anchor, before leaving the Big Easy for the Big Apple in 1998. She then gained international renown with her work on NBC’s “Dateline”. For the past few years, Hoda has been co-hosting the morning talkshow “Today” with Kathie Lee Gifford which continues to add fame to her resume.

Hoda’s next big appearance, though, won't be on television. Her next cameo will actually be taking her back to her roots right here in New Orleans! The 2012 FestiGals has just announced that Kotb will be Keynote Speaker at the Bodacious Bras for a Cause Luncheon. The all-female festival “FestiGals” will be June 22-24 of this year and features a “Stiletto Stroll” second line, City Tours, fine dining, and discussions. NOLA.com reports that “FestiGals will include appearances by Huffington Post columnist Colleen Mullaney, Commander’s Palace co-owner Ti Martin and Historic New Orleans Collection historian Pamela Arceneaux” to name a few. Hoda has made several trips back to NOLA since her big more to NYC, including one trip immediately after Hurricane Katrina. The television personality has been very loyal to the city of New Orleans and continues to inspire hope for progress within the city. Everyone here in Hollywood South is excited to have Hoda back for a few days, but perhaps no one is more excited that Hoda herself!

For more information about the festival, please visit their official website.

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The New Orleans Film Society and the Consulate General of France present the French Film Festival of New Orleans. Presented at the Prytania Theater from July 8 to July 14, 2011, it will propose an eclectic program of 9 films with 2 classics, which are premieres in Louisiana, broadcast in French with English subtitles.

Prytania Theater 
5339 Prytania Street 
New Orleans, LA 70115

Click here for a list of films!

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The New Orleans Film Society has staked out the dates for its 22nd annual New Orleans Film Festival: Oct. 14 to Oct. 20.

As usual, the 2011 edition of the festival will include film screenings, panel discussions, workshops, receptions, awards presentations, opening and closing night events, "and numerous opportunities for learning, networking and celebrating the finest in cinema, with a special focus on Louisiana-produced films," the release said.

Tickets and passes will go on sale in late September or early October. New Orleans Film Society members will be able to purchase advance tickets and will receive discounts on all events.

Continue reading at NOLA.com

For more information, visit the NOFS website.
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Re-imagine Julius Caesar as an illustrious Depression-era Louisiana governor, and you have this year’s opening production in the New Orleans Shakespeare Festival at Tulane, which begins with a preview performance tonight.


Continue reading at uptownmessenger.com
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Film-O-Rama opens at Prytania Theatre Friday. The selection of independent and foreign films was curated by the New Orleans Film Society, and 17 different films screen over the course of the week (May 13-19). Among the highlights are the critically acclaimed films Certified Copy, a romance set in Tuscany by Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami, Werner Herzog's Cave of Forgotten Dreams 3-D, The People V. George Lucas, about the fans for whom Star Wars is much more than a cult film, and the festival is screening the 1958 classic starring Paul Newman and Elizabeth Taylor Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

Also screening is the oddity above, Rubber, a horror film/horror film parody about a homicidal tire. It defies description. The short trailer implies everything from tumbleweed Western to Psycho to Reno 911. It likely would become a cult film were director Quentin Dupieux not trying to comment on the devices he is using. There's an audience of film viewers within the film who both talk about the action and interact with it. They are funny at times, but they also disrupt the tension Dupieux is trying to build as the tire stalks a young woman. It's still clever and offbeat, and it's not entirely clear whether Dupieux was more interested in making a horror film or mocking one. But it's like no other film in the amazingly diverse line-up of films in the festival. More on Film-0-Rama here.

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The R-Squared Film Festival is coming to a close on Saturday with the premiere of 18 finalist films at Louisiana Delta Community College.

Students from the following schools will be competing in the middle school and high school competition: Good Hope Middle School, Woodlawn Middle School, Neville High School, West Ouachita High School, Simsboro High School and Choudrant High School.

Also, student filmmakers from Lousisiana Tech and the University of Louisiana at Monroe will compete in the open category. The open category includes movies created by college students and northeastern Louisiana adults.

All films will be judged based on content quality, cinematography, editing, sound quality and acting.

Pecanland Mall has donated $1,500 in gift cards to be presented to first place, second place and people's choice award winners. The NELA Film Commission will also donate an Apple iMac computer to the winning school in the middle school and high school division.

The middle and high school competition begins at noon and the ppen competition begins at 3:30 p.m. For more information on R-Squared Productions, visit www.r2films.net.

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The New Orleans Film Society's Spring film festival, Film-O-Rama, kicks off this Wednesday, May 11 at St. Marie. There will be cocktails and trailers of the indie films set to be screened at the fest from 6-10pm at 930 Poydras Street in New Orleans.
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A look from the fall 2011 collection by Bill Blass.
A look from the fall 2011 collection by Bill Blass.
This year, there’s hardly any lull between the two New Orleans Jazz Fest weekends. Events around town keep the calendar chock full. Check ’em out.

If you haven’t blown your budget in the Contemporary Crafts yet, then Magazine Street has a few ways to loosen you from your wallet. The merchants of Magazine Street will hold their second Shop Fest on Cinco de Mayo (Thursday), to encourage folks in town for all the festivities to hit the city's boutique strip.

Shops will be open late, until 9 p.m. (long after the Fair Grounds close), and many merchants are promising music, free drinks and snacks as well as promos and trunk shows.

Here's a list, provided by the Magazine Street Merchants Association, of some of the activities planned.

Branch Out Vintage + Sustainable Goods, 2022 Magazine St., will have a DJ, sales and complimentary cocktails

Storyville, 3029 Magazine St., serving wine, beer and hors d’ oeuvres

Storyville Kids, 3118 Magazine St., serving wine, beer and hors d’ oeuvres

Nacho Mama’s Mexican Grill, 3242 Magazine St., will have a block party on Pleasant Street with Los Po-Boy-Citos playing from 7-10 p.m.

To read a full list click here

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