At 3pm on Sunday, November 1, Backstreet Cultural Museum will be hosting a special program to help us grieve the loss of so many people this year and celebrate the lives of friends and family who have passed on to the ancestral realm. Tributes are planned to the founder and director of Backstreet, Sylvester Francis, as well as Big Queen Kim Boutte of Fi Yi Yi and the Mandingo Warriors, and Ronald W. Lewis of the House of Dance & Feathers. 

Guests are welcome to bring pictures of loved ones, candles, and offerings for the altar.

Come with your mask on and observe social distancing to keep everyone safe.

Music by Bruce Sunpie Barnes and the Treme Brass Band | Special artwork designed by Fi Yi Yi and the New Orleans Public Culture course | Catering by Melba's | DJ by Sylvester Francis, Jr. | Sunset Film Screening of movies from Sylvester's archives. Bring a folding chair!

~History & Thank you~
This is the Backstreet's 21st annual All Saints event--the first time they are not able to have a parade due to the safety of our community during the pandemic. All Saints was one of Sylvester's favorite events of the year--a time he dedicated to preserving jazz funeral traditions, and honoring beloved community members who passed away. For the past four years, the Neighborhood Story Project and the University of New Orleans' Department of Anthropology and Sociology have coproduced the event with the Northside Skull and Bone Gang and the Spirit of Fi Yi Yi and the Mandingo Warriors.

This year, they'd like to thank Jonathan Mayers for the beautiful artwork, and the Bayou Culture Collaborative, a partnership between the Louisiana’s Folklore Society and the Louisiana Division of the Arts Folklife Program, Another Gulf is Possible, the Boebel family, and the 6t9 Social Aid & Pleasure Club for their support.

Full info at backstreetmuseum.org.