2025 Creole Christmas Holiday Home Tour
December 27-28th | 10am – 3pm | Tickets GA$40, Members $30
Step back in time and join the Friends of the Cabildo for a tour of the French Quarter’s most cherished properties adorned in traditional Creole Christmas finery befitting the time and style of each historic residence!
Returning to open ticketing, the 45th- annual Creole Christmas will be December 27th & 28th from 10 a.m, – 3 p.m. Historic Houses include Bk Historic House & Gardens, Gallier House, Hermann-Grima House,1850 House, Historic New Orleans Collection and Spring Fiesta. All houses will have their courtyards open to enjoy on the tour as well.
This holiday season, choose to shop small at the 1850 House Museum Gift Shop, where proceeds support the Friends of the Cabildo and Louisiana State Museums. Between November 17th and December 1st, enjoy special discounts: 15% off purchases over $25, 20% off over $50, 25% off over $90, and 30% off over $200. Visit us in person at 523 St. Ann St. open daily 9AM-4PM or explore our selection online at www.1850housestore.com.
Discounts are automatically applied at checkout through the promotional period.
Members from December 2-31 enjoy 20% off in-store and online
Shop, Sip, and Be Merry FOC Member Gathering Sunday, December 21 at the museum gift shop
5 PM – 6:30 PM enjoy 25% off in-store purchases. Caroling at the Square — gates open at 6:30 PM right across from the shop!
FOC Concert Tickets for 2025-2026 Season | 100 tickets/show
All Concerts at 7pm at the NO Jazz Museum 3rd Floor | 100 tickets/Show in the Atmos Digital Sound New Orleans Jazz Museum 3rd Floor Performance Space Venue
Individual Concert Ticket – $30 GA / $25 Members
December 19th – Professor Longhair 107th Birthday Show with CR Gruver of the New Orleans Suspects
January 9th – Alex McMurray
March 13th – Robin Barnes – The Songbird of New Orleans
April 2nd – The Dirty Dozen Brass Band
The FOC Concert Series is supported by the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation through the Community Sponsorship Grant Program. 100% of Grants Proceeds go to the musicians.
Neighborhood & Cultural Tours
Battle of New Orleans Tour
211th Anniversary of the Battle of New Orleans Tour | Thursday | Jan. 8th | 10am
Bywater Tour
Jan. 17th | Saturday |10am | Departure Point: Bywater Bakery (3624 Dauphine St.)
Marigny Tour
Part II Tour | Jan. 10th | Saturday | Departure Point: Hotel Peter & Paul (2317 Dauphine St.)
New Orleans Literary Tour
Dec. 20th & January 24th | Saturdays | Departure Point: 1850 House (523 St. Ann)
Weekly Garden District Tour
Every Saturday | 10am | Departure: The Chicory House (2727 Prytania)
Sicilian History Tour of the French Quarter (New Tour) (15 Spots/Tour)
Sundays- Jan. 11 (Sold Out) | Feb. 1 (Sold Out) | March 1 & 8 | April 4 (Sat) & 12 | May 3 & 10 | Departure: 1850 House Museum Store (523 St. Ann St.)
Spring America 250 Member Lecture Series
January 5 – Arthur Hardy Looks Back at 50 years of Mardi Gras in New Orleans: A Celebration of Carnival – Arthur Hardy
March 10 – Nourishing Networks: the Public Culture of Food in New Orleans and in the 18th century – Dr. Ashley Rose Young
March 17 – The First Fleets: Colonial Navies of the British Atlantic World – Dr. Benjamin Schaffer
May 5 – The Islenos and Louisianan’s Role in the Galvez Militia – William Hyland
Film Series
2026
January 21 – Member of the Club: Black Aristocracy Through the Eyes of an African American Debutante and her Matriarchal Family (Q&A with Kelly Parker)
March: 25 – Film Series: George Dureau: New Orleans Artist (Q&A TBA)
April: 22 – Film Series: 1970 Jazz Fest Films (Moderated by Jon Pult
2026 Rex Den Showing
Saturday | Jan. 10 | 1-2:30 p.m. | Tickets: $30 Members / $40 Guests | 2531 S Claiborne Ave.
The historic Rex Organization—whose namesake monarch reigns over the entire New Orleans Carnival celebration—opens its doors for a special viewing of its float Den for Friends of the Cabildo Members and their guests. See the 2025 Rex floats up close and enjoy the enjoy ever expanding Rex Museum, a venue not open to the general public. Children are welcome. 12 and Under Free with Ticket Purchase (Must Register Children’s Ticket).
2026 History of Carnival Class
January 13, 14, 15 (6 – 8 pm via Zoom) (15th will start at 4pm) | All Classes Recorded and Emailed to Participants After
Tuition: $30 Members | $40 General Admission
Friends of the Cabildo will be returning its successful Adult History Class: A History of Carnival in 2026 with a 3-class seminar beginning January 13th. Speakers will include historian Dr. Karen Leathem of the Louisiana State Museum, Dr. Kimberly Vaz of Dillard University, Nola.com writer Doug Macash, ULL Professor Emeritus Barry Ancelet, historian Frank Perez and Dr. Charles Chamberlain (UNO). The class will define the origins of Carnival, explore Black Carnival traditions, discuss Mardi Gras music culture, Cajun Mardi Gras, Gay Carnival and highlight the evolution of Mardi Gras Throws.
2026 Hidden Treasures: Carnival Edition
February 4th (Wed) One Night Only | 5:30pm & 7pm Showings | Tickets: $25 Members/ $35 GA | 1000 Chartres | Reservations Required (No Tickets at the Door) | 20 Tickets/Showing
For all you hardcore Carnival fanatics, join the Friends of the Cabildo and the Louisiana State Museum for-one night only as they open the impressive Carnival Collection for an exclusive behind-the-scenes viewing of historic costumes and other rarely seen artifacts. Wayne Phillips, Curator of Costumes and Textiles for the Louisiana State Museum, will guide you through an in-depth, first-hand look at Carnivals of years past through a tour of the storage rooms of the State Museum, usually off limits to the general public.
Yoga at the Cabildo
Yoga at the Cabildo will begin classes again starting Saturday, June 17th at 8:30 a.m. at the Cabildo (701 Chartres Street) on beautiful Jackson Square.
Layla Ross will be giving classes every Saturday morning for Friends of the Cabildo Members, locals and tourists.
Member cost for the class is $10 and non-members its $20. If you have a mat please bring one if not we have some available for free.
Second Thursday Lecture Series
Sponsored by Friends of the Cabildo
Jan. 8, 2026 | Thursday | 6 p.m. | Remembering the Cajun Past: Memory, Race, and the Politics of Public History in Louisiana with Marc David
Cajuns arrived in southern Louisiana in the eighteenth century after the British exiled them from eastern Canada. Also known as Acadians, they retained a unique dialect of French, and their distinctive music, food, and other cultural traits characterized them as an ethnic group. Until the 1960s, authorities viewed them as a serious problem, allegedly blocking the state’s progress as they clung to their antiquated ways. Few Cajun residents in the region remembered the remote past of their ancestors, but by the 1970s, organizations ranging from local nonprofits to the National Park Service created sites that commemorated their history, such as the Acadian Memorial in St. Martinville, allowing Cajuns to connect their lives to their past and claim it as their own.