Editor’s Picks for December

Saadi: Merry Christmas to all, and to all, a good book
December 3, 2013
Believe the Hype: LSU men, women succeed in tournaments
December 4, 2013
Saadi: Merry Christmas to all, and to all, a good book
December 3, 2013
Believe the Hype: LSU men, women succeed in tournaments
December 4, 2013

Regional events in December are listed below.

Celebration in the Oaks takes over City Park


Through Jan. 4, 2014

Hundreds of thousands of holiday lights adorn the famous oaks of New Orleans City Park this month as part of the annual Celebration in the Oaks.

More than 165,000 visitors will tour the lit park over the course of the month, walking through 20 acres of park, seeing the Botanical Garden, Storyland and Carousel Gardens illuminated in the holiday spirit.


The park’s mature live oaks are its most identifiable feature. One grand oak dates back roughly 800 trees, and some of the oaks have limps that are twice as long as their trunks’ heights.

Festivities also include a train ride and amusement park rides, for additional costs.

The park is closed on Christmas and New Year’s eves but is otherwise open daily. Times are 6-10 p.m., Sunday through Thursday and 6-11 p.m., Friday and Saturday.


Entry is $8. Fore more information, go to www.CelebratinInTheOaks.com or call (504) 482-4888.

Recognizing 80 post-prohibition years at Pat O’s

Dec. 3


The end of prohibition gave (legitimate) birth to Pat O’ Brien’s Bar in New Orleans.

Theretofore the proprietor of a speakeasy, Pat was then free to operate within the law, and he did so. Eighty years have passed since prohibition ceased on Dec. 5, 1933, and Pat O’Brien’s plans to honor the date with an anniversary celebration.

Featuring live entertainment by the Bucktown Allstars, the event sprawls out in the surrounding area of 718 St. Peter Street in New Orleans, where one of the city’s famous watering holes has been staked for decades. It begins at 5 p.m.


Hurricanes, of course, are sold at half-price. The stout rum beverage was created in the 1940s when liquor wholesalers pushed rum on buyers who sought whiskey, bourbon and scotch amid short supplies. It has become a symbol of the city to many.

For more information about the party, visit www.patobriens.com.

Christmas tradition ablaze


Dec. 13-15

The Mississippi River in Gramercy and Lutcher is set ablaze by a streak of bonfires on Christmas Eve, and the weekend festival celebrating that tradition is one week earlier.

The three-day event features several bands – Contraflow, 90 Degrees West and Creole String Beans among them – a gingerbread-baking contest, pageants, a car show and a gumbo cook-off. Teepee-styled bonfires (tempered down from the all-out blaze on Dec. 24) are lit atop the levee in Lutcher on Friday and Saturday.


Dog-centric contests (ball-fetching and a look-a-like contest, for starters) are part of the Million Mutt March benefiting the animal shelter.

The Christmas Eve lighting begins at 7 p.m. Some fires on this night are built according to various themes, such as sports and Louisiana history.

Festival of the Bonfires is at Lutcher Recreation Park, La. Highway 3193. Admission is $4.


For more information, visit www.festivalofthebonfires.org.

Run, Santa, Run, Run, Run

Dec. 14


Partygoers are adorned in seasonal costumes – Santa and his wife, human trees, candy canes – as they partake in the third-annual “Running of the Santas” in New Orleans’ Warehouse District.

For those who want to mix the holidays with a bit of alcohol and exercise, creativity in costumes is strongly encouraged.

The event begins at 9 a.m. with a fun run and stretches late into the night. Barcadia Bar and Grill, 601 Tchoupitoulas St., is the South Pole, and Generations Hall, 310 Andrew Higgins Drive, is the North Pole.


Category 6 (7 p.m., Generations), Flow Tribe (1 p.m., Barcadia) and Naughty Professor (5:30 p.m., Generations) are the scheduled musical entertainment.

Registrants are served free Abita beer from 2-4 p.m. at Generations Hall. 

General admission tickets are $20, and VIP passes are $30.For more information, visit www.runningofthesantas.com.


The 24th annual Festival of the Bonfires returns to Lutcher Recreation Park from Dec. 13-15.

COURTESY PHOTO