A Krewe of Muses float celebrates Scrim, the free-spirited runaway mutt.
After the glowing success of Taylor Swift’s sold-out three-day swing through New Orleans at the end of 2024, it’s not surprising the city had high expectations for Super Bowl LIX and 2025. But what we got was much more of a mixed bag of highs, lows as bad as the New Year’s terrorist attack on Bourbon Street, and other setbacks, most recently including anti-immigrant ICE sweeps causing restaurants to temporarily close.
The city also entered the year still enchanted by Scrim, the free-ranging stray with an indomitable spirit, who lived much of 2024 on the run and in the headlines. By the time this year’s Carnival parades rolled, he was a sort of folk hero, depicted on floats in numerous parades. The typically raunchy Krewe du Vieux discovered a new type of excess, with each subkrewe adding the mutt’s likeness to their float. Scrim was, of course, also honored — in effigy and in absentia — by the Mystic Krewe of Barkus.
Scrim was a fitting symbol for a year that had plenty of entertaining drama but also required a scrappy attitude as many events faced a variety of hurdles and setbacks, caused by everything from bad weather to the loss of arts funding and sponsorships.
The Super Bowl also was unpredictable in its largesse. While there were mega-yachts parked on the riverfront, the French Quarter and neighborhoods surrounding the Dome didn’t see the heavy traffic expected by the city and local businesses. More of the game’s surrounding events were behind velvet ropes. But the pre-game show embraced its host city with Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews, New Orleans natives Ledisi and Jon Batiste, and the Southern University Human Jukebox marching band performing.
Lil Wayne felt snubbed when the NFL chose Kendrick Lamar for the half-time show, but he got his own headlining spotlight at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival months later. The festival also had a stellar mix of local and visiting talent, from Pearl Jam to Kacey Musgraves and visiting bands from Mexico in the Cultural Exchange Pavilion.
Other festivals hit major milestones. Greek Fest marked its golden anniversary on the banks of Bayou St. John on Memorial Day weekend. Satchmo Summerfest marked its 25th event, celebrating traditional jazz and New Orleans sounds on Louis Armstrong’s birthday.
While Satchmo Fest braves the brutal August heat every year, inclement weather — from high winds to heavy rain — was particularly disruptive in 2025. Southern Decadence moved its Labor Day Sunday afternoon parade to later, cooler hours. Among the postponements, Barkus rolled after Mardi Gras, and Metairie’s Krewe of Argus ended up parading just before St. Patrick’s Day — on Metairie Road in conjunction with the St. Patrick Parade of Jefferson.
In New Orleans, the Irish Channel St. Patrick’s Parade was postponed twice due to weather and ultimately cancelled. The Freret Street Festival cancelled its usual spring event due to weather, and it rescheduled for early November, a change that it is making permanent.
In May, Bayou Boogaloo almost didn’t happen due to difficulties securing final city approval of its permits. The festival shrunk its footprint as part of a compromise due to complaints from some residents in the neighborhood, and City Council Member Joe Giarrusso encouraged the festival to consider finding a new location for future events.
Some events were cancelled altogether. LUNA Fete, the annual holiday season expo of light and art installations in the Warehouse District, opted not to hold an event this year, citing changes in local and federal funding. Its organizer, Arts New Orleans, is focusing on bringing the festival back in 2026.
Top Taco, the taco and tequila drink competition and tasting event also cancelled this year, after several years at Metairie’s Lafreniere Park. Organizers cited challenges in finding sponsorships.
Prospect New Orleans had an engaging sixth edition of its international contemporary art triennial, stretching from November 2024 to early February. Installations and expos ranged from Mexican artist Raul de Nieves’ giant red heart sculpture placed on the top of the giant pedestal at Harmony Circle to the adobe “Mexica Falcon” at the former Ford Motors Assembly Plant in Arabi. Prospect.6 curators Miranda Lash and Ebony Patterson explored the theme “The Future is Present. The Harbinger is Home,” which looked to the future and change. But after the expo closed, the organization announced it would not start planning another edition and instead will mark the event’s 20th anniversary in 2027 with a book reflecting on its work.
There were also new events, and the comedy scene is growing again. The tiny comedy club Sports Drink launched a comedy festival in May. And the national comedy festival Skankfest came to Mardi Gras World for a rowdy weekend in November.
The city also looked hospitable to independent productions. Burlesque and circus variety shows by producers including LadyBEAST and Vivacious Miss Audacious now book larger venues like the Joy Theater. And Bywater and Marigny are seeing more theater, music and comedy at venues like New Marigny Theatre, Marigny Opera House, Cafe Istanbul and Big Couch.
There were some shakeups in local venues. The small music club Gasa Gasa returned, and the New Orleans Jazz Market became the Jazz and Blues Market and now books touring jazz performers. The experiential museum JAMNOLA expanded its number of installations by local artists at its new home on Frenchmen Street. And the brewery Zony Mash Beer Project closed, depriving the city of its indoor and outdoor event spaces.
In the end, it wasn’t an easy year in the Big Easy, but it’s worth appreciating what we got — and all the efforts that went into making them happen.
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‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.nola.com ’
