Culture

Music, Food, Parade On Tap for Nelsonville’s Mardi Gras Celebration

Posted on: Thursday, February 27, 2014

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Nelsonville will be partying New Orleans style this week as Final Friday celebrates Mardi Gras.

Final Friday is held on the last Friday of each month on Nelsonville’s Public Square to celebrate the downtown historic district’s art galleries and shops. This month’s event, held from 5-9 p.m., is slated to have all kinds of Mardi Gras festivities, from a parade and brass band to Cajun food.

There will be a special appearance by the Honey for the Heart puppets to lead a Mardi Gras parade around the Public Square beginning at 6:45 p.m. (weather permitting).

Honey for the Heart is a collaborative art project that began in Athens two years ago. The large, funky puppets have made appearances at the Athens Halloween Block Party and other parades around the county.

Guests are encouraged to bring their own Mardi Gras costumes and masks to participate in the parade. Families can make their own masks from 5:30-7 p.m. at the Nelsonville Library.

The parade will also feature music by the New Basics Brass Band. Originally launched in Columbus in 1995, the sousaphone-driven band layers jazz, R&B, New Orleans funk and groove sounds. The band will perform a free concert in the lobby of Stuart’s Opera House from 7-9 p.m. No tickets are needed.

Stuart’s will also be offering samples of Cajun dishes, provided by the culinary program at Hocking College. Guests can choose between seafood and sausage gumbo, red beans and rice and jambalaya for $3 per bowl.

The annual Hocking College Bourbon Street Bash will also be held during Final Friday at Rhapsody restaurant. The restaurant will be providing a four-course New Orleans inspired meal. Reservations are recommended and can be made by calling 753-5740.

There will also be several art gallery openings during the Final Friday event.

Starbrick Cooperative Gallery will host the opening of Repurposed: From Ordinary to Extraordinary, featuring the work of Ann Brown and Rick Linn from 5-9 p.m.

Paper Circle will open Paper Dolls, an exhibit by Kyla Zoe Rafert and Majestic Galleries will hold an opening night reception for the artwork of Astrid Kaemmerling.

Continuing exhibits include Tied to the Heart: Apparel as Memory of Loved Ones by Sky Cone in Stuart’s Gallery 1879 and the 9th Annual Glass Invitational and 1st Annual Ceramics Invitational at the Hocking Art Gallery.

Visit nelsonvillefinalfridays.com for more information.