This weekend: Laurel Street Palooza

Cold weather won’t stop the hot downtown festivities this weekend. The Arts Council hosts the 15th annual Laurel Street Palooza Friday 5:30 p.m.-9:30 p.m. at its building on 427 Laurel Street and in the Chase Bank Towers across the street. The annual fundraising event/block party will close the books on last year’s impressive arts showings.

Arts Council projects and technology director Sandy Parfait even hinted that the event might have some “time travel involved.” Parfait took the job in 2008, and says she has been amazed at the amount of growth over the past seven years within the Baton Rouge arts community.

“It feels like there’s something to do every night, and that makes the city great,” she says. “We’ve seen many new and innovative arts organizations come and build on their initial mission. In 2015, I’m hopeful that there will be more collaborations between arts and non-arts organizations. When that synergy happens, we do great things. We’re becoming more innovative.”

The evening includes musical performances from The Michael Foster Project, Artemis, Kirk Holder, Righteous Buddha and Ben Bell. Food from local restaurants such as Blend, City Gelato and MJ’s Cafe will also be available. Tickets are $45 at the door and $40 online.

During the event, two local arts champions and advocates will also be recognized. This year’s respective king and queen are Cornelius Lewis and Ava Haymon.

Lewis is a New Orleans native who helped found the River City Jazz Coalition. In teaming up with former Arts Council CEO Derek Gordon, Lewis worked and continues to help preserve jazz in the area, launching the River City Jazz Master series in 2007.

Haymon is the state poet laureate. While serving as poet laureate, she has visited communities all over Louisiana and has discovered a groundswell of spoken word/slam poetry within the Baton Rouge area. She has published four collections, and her works have been published in journals nationwide.

For more information, visit artsbr.org.