Weekends in public spaces

When coming up with ideas to contribute to our Weekender e-newsletter, I couldn’t help but wonder if many of the events happening downtown on Saturday would bump into each other in a slapstick comedy sort of way. Would the routes for the YMCA’s Skeleton Skurry get tangled with the Halloween Parade starting 15 minutes later? Would Junior League members, up early to prepare for the last day of Hollydays, have to step over revelers who stayed out too late after dancing to Live After Five Friday night? Would book lovers at the huge Louisiana Book Festival have a West Side Story-style standoff with local produce lovers at the Red Stick Farmers Market nearby?

Maybe the arrival of Halloween has my imagination kicking into high gear, but it says something about our renewed interest in downtown that fun events like these are sprouting up more frequently in our many public gathering areas. So much that it’s hard to decide where to go. But these fun events aren’t limited to downtown this weekend. The Baton Rouge Gallery is showing the last of its Movies & Music on the Lawn films, the silent classic The Lost World, with improv electronic music by DJ OttO at 8 p.m. Saturday behind the gallery.

I’m currently having trouble choosing between that and the Louisiana International Film Festival’s outdoor screening of two Louisiana-shot horror flicks on the riverfront by the USS Kidd starting at 7 p.m. Saturday. And if you prefer watching scary films in the comfort of a theatre, Manship Theatre has The Rocky Horror Picture Show on Friday and The Lost Boys on Saturday.

It all goes to show the more we invest in downtown and the more we gather downtown, the livelier it will be. And news yesterday of changes to the city’s outdated blue laws means we’ll see more people investing and enjoying downtown outside of the 9-to-5 schedule.

But back to this weekend’s many events, the Main Street Market and the Red Stick Farmers’ Market will be celebrating the season with Halloween-themed events for children and adults. Click here for more. Meanwhile, the Louisiana Book Festival is sure to be the biggest crowd pleaser. Read our preview of the event here. And be sure to stop by 225’s booth while you’re there and tell us hello!