August 01, 2016
The French Quarter has always been a place of celebration, street performers, musicians and artists. All this will be on display at the 15th anniversary celebration of the Quarter's fun and notorious Dirty Linen Night, which began as a reaffirmation of the Vieux Carre's status as the artistic center of New Orleans.
At the turn of this century, there were challenges to the French Quarter’s reputation, notably in the hip, burgeoning Warehouse District, where renovations of buildings, spurred by the nearby 1984 Louisiana World Exposition, offered sleek new exhibition spaces for the avant-garde. Soon suave young collectors were flocking there each August to attend the district’s White Linen Night, where partygoers beat the heat in linen suits and dresses as they popped in and out of new galleries.
In 2001, French Quarter jeweler Linda Sampson had had enough of that. What the French Quarter needed, she decided, was a fun, funkier version of the annual Warehouse District walkaround, something that would draw an adventurous crowd back to Royal Street and environs.
Voila! Dirty Linen Night was born and is celebrated every summer on the second Saturday in August. On August 13th, this special anniversary celebration of the variety of Royal Street’s art galleries and antique shops will offer street entertainment and refreshments, as well as the chance to mingle with the artists and performers that give the French Quarter its personality.
The original intent was to satirize the highbrow aspects of White Linen Night, and the tenor of the night lies somewhere between the Warehouse District event, which takes place the previous weekend, and the raucous displays of Bourbon Street, just one block away. The dress is casual; the namesake beverage, offered by some shops, is the ‘dirty’ martini; and the experience is unforgettable.
This year, the celebration will be in the hands of a new producer, Calliope Consulting Group, whose goal is to return the event to its roots as a celebration of the French Quarter's artists and galleries.
Josh Friedmann, speaking for Calliope, waxed poetic about the event's early focus on the casual enjoyment of Royal Street and its array of galleries in almost every block.
"This year, we're bringing Dirty Linen Night back to more of an art walk, to focus on the galleries, the way it began," he said. "We want to entice people to come down to Royal Street and go into the galleries, as well as enjoy the street itself. We're hoping to have a new company shoot a 360-degree video of the evening, both along Royal Street and in the galleries," Friedmann added.
"We'll have food trucks in certain areas, and booths along Royal; but the galleries started it all, and we want to make them the focus again."
As Dirty Linen Night takes place primarily on Royal Street, the Quarter’s most elegant thoroughfare, good manners ensure that everyone from young adults to grandparents can comfortably mingle in the merriment, or to coin the phrase, “Eat, Drink & Be Merry”!
At the turn of this century, there were challenges to the French Quarter’s reputation, notably in the hip, burgeoning Warehouse District, where renovations of buildings, spurred by the nearby 1984 Louisiana World Exposition, offered sleek new exhibition spaces for the avant-garde. Soon suave young collectors were flocking there each August to attend the district’s White Linen Night, where partygoers beat the heat in linen suits and dresses as they popped in and out of new galleries.
In 2001, French Quarter jeweler Linda Sampson had had enough of that. What the French Quarter needed, she decided, was a fun, funkier version of the annual Warehouse District walkaround, something that would draw an adventurous crowd back to Royal Street and environs.
Voila! Dirty Linen Night was born and is celebrated every summer on the second Saturday in August. On August 13th, this special anniversary celebration of the variety of Royal Street’s art galleries and antique shops will offer street entertainment and refreshments, as well as the chance to mingle with the artists and performers that give the French Quarter its personality.
The original intent was to satirize the highbrow aspects of White Linen Night, and the tenor of the night lies somewhere between the Warehouse District event, which takes place the previous weekend, and the raucous displays of Bourbon Street, just one block away. The dress is casual; the namesake beverage, offered by some shops, is the ‘dirty’ martini; and the experience is unforgettable.
This year, the celebration will be in the hands of a new producer, Calliope Consulting Group, whose goal is to return the event to its roots as a celebration of the French Quarter's artists and galleries.
Josh Friedmann, speaking for Calliope, waxed poetic about the event's early focus on the casual enjoyment of Royal Street and its array of galleries in almost every block.
"This year, we're bringing Dirty Linen Night back to more of an art walk, to focus on the galleries, the way it began," he said. "We want to entice people to come down to Royal Street and go into the galleries, as well as enjoy the street itself. We're hoping to have a new company shoot a 360-degree video of the evening, both along Royal Street and in the galleries," Friedmann added.
"We'll have food trucks in certain areas, and booths along Royal; but the galleries started it all, and we want to make them the focus again."
As Dirty Linen Night takes place primarily on Royal Street, the Quarter’s most elegant thoroughfare, good manners ensure that everyone from young adults to grandparents can comfortably mingle in the merriment, or to coin the phrase, “Eat, Drink & Be Merry”!
