Backstreet Cultural Museum invites you to join its 23rd Annual All Saints Day commemoration in remembrance of those who’ve passed. It will be held at The Broadside, an outdoor venue at 600 North Broad Street, New Orleans. This year’s honorees include the late Big Chief Ray “Hatchet” Blazio of the Wild Apache, Keelian “Dump” Boyd of the Young Maasai Hunters, Big Chief Allison “Tootie” Montana of the Yellow Pocahontas and Deborah “Big Red” Cotton.
Performances will be provided by the Treme Brass Band and the Lil’ Rascals Brass Band, featuring Grand Marshal Oswald “Bo Monkey” Jones, and Big Chief Kevin Goodman of the Flaming Arrows will be interspersed with video interviews with such notables as Big Chief Darryl Montana of the Yellow Pocahontas, Fred Johnson of the Black Men of Labor, Louis Charbonnet of Charbonnet Family Services and many more.
Doors open at 6 p.m. and the free event takes place from 6:30-9 p.m. November 1. The museum encourages folks to wear their memorial T-shirts dedicated to their late loved ones and friends.
Under the leadership of the Backstreet Cultural Museum’s executive director Dominique Dilling, who in 2020 took over the position following the death of her father, Sylvester Francis, this year’s program commemorating All Saints Days is different than those in the past. Its purpose of celebrating the ancestors remains the same and is being held in loving memory of the museum’s founder. Merchandise and museum membership applications will be available on site.
The Broadside is located at 600 N. Broad Street. For more information on the Backstreet All Saints Day program, visit here
