2025 Rum Rendezvous
An exclusive tasting evening benefiting the Friends of the Cabildo. Held inside the acclaimed Dickie Brennan’s Palace Cafe – Wednesday, May 14, 2025 6-8 pm. Purchase your tickets now at $100 general admission, or $75 members and young adults (21-40) or calling (504) 523-3939 for sponsorship opportunities.
10 Louisiana Distillers, producers and Louisiana based Rum Brands will be featured. Food, oysters and libations will be flowing. Rum experts Jeff “Beachbum” Barry, Wayne Curtis and Matt Pietrek (The Rum Wonk) will also be pouring and interacting.
Silver Sponsors: Villere & Co. | Dickie Brennan Restaurants | Terri Romano Marketing
Neighborhood & Cultural Tours
Bywater Neighborhood Tour
Saturday | March 22 | 10am
Departure: Bywater Bakery, 3624 Dauphine St., corner of Independence St.
Esplanade Ridge Tour
Friday | February 28 | 10am
Departure: Pagoda Cafe (1430 N. Dorgenois St.)
Carrollton Avenue Tour
Friday | March 7 | 10am
Departure: La Madeline (601 S. Carrollton Ave.)
Lower Garden District Tour
Friday | March 14 | 10am
Departure: Muses Statue (Prytania & Terpsichore)
Battle of New Orleans Tour
Saturdays | March 15, April 19, May 10, June 14 | 10am
Departure: 1850 House Museum Store (523 St. Ann Street)
Garden District Tour
Friday | March 21 | 10am
Departure: 1452 Jackson Avenue (Riverside Corner)
Treme Cultural Tour
Friday | March 28 | 10am
Departure: Treme Coffeehouse (1501 St. Philip St.)
FOC Concert Series 2024 – 2025
All Concerts at 7pm at the NO Jazz Museum 3rd Floor | 100 tickets/Show
Individual Concert Ticket – $30 GA / $25 Members
$175 GA Season Front Row Guaranteed Seat / $150 Member Season
$125 GA Season Second Row Guaranteed Seat / $100 Member Season
$100 GA Season / $80 Season Member (Non-Front Two Rows)
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.
2024-2025 Season Completed Shows
60th Anniversary City Park Beatles Show w/The Walrus (Sold Out) | Prof. Longhair Birthday Show w/River Eckert (Sold Out) | Marcia Ball (Sold Out)
Upcoming Shows (Venue only Seats 110 Guests)
Mar. 14th | Johnny Sansone Band (32 Tickets Remain)
April 4th | The Iguanas (40 Tickets Remain)
April 17th (Thursday) | Sonny Landreth (14 Tickets Remain)
Fall Member Lecture Series
Free for Members w/Signup | GA $10/lecture or $25 for all Fall Lectures
Lectures at 6pm on Tuesdays
August 5 – The Native Acolapissa Indians of Mandeville of St. Tammany Parish – Jackson Cantrell
Spring Member Lecture Series
Free for Members w/Signup | GA $10/lecture or $25 for all Spring Lectures
Lectures at 6pm on Tuesdays
All March Lectures Conducted by Greg Beaman of the Smithsonian
March 11 – Slavery in the Suburbs: Slavery and Real Estate in the Faubourgs of New Orleans
March 18 _ Rival Soundscapes of Civil War New Orleans
March 25 – Rival Soundscapes of Claiborne Avenue: Music & Movements of the 1960
April 1 – Frenchie: The Story of the French-Speaking Cajuns of World War II – Dr. Jason Theriot
April 8 – Settling St. Malo: A History of Filipino Louisiana – Dr. Randy Gonzalez
April 15 – George Valentine Dureau: Life & Art in New Orleans : Howard Phillips Smith
Summer Member Lecture Series
June 17 – An History of New Orleans Creole Culture – Dionne Butler
June 24 – TBA: Creole History Lecture – Harold Marchand
Spring 2025 Tertulia Gatherings
Come learn about Spanish Connections around a theme and hear local speakers and join the discussions as we host three (3) Tertulia this spring. Includes wine and stars at 2pm each Tertulias. Tickets are $20 for FOC/LMF Members and $30 GA. Guest speakers will come from local consulates, local universities and historians. Come join the fun and be part of the Tertulia
What is a Tertulia? A Tertulia is a social gathering with an artistic or literary focus, particularly in Spanish America or Iberia. It can also refer to an informal meeting where people discuss current events or the arts.
March 16 – Theme: Benito Juarez Birthday Tertulia (Cabildo)
1970 Jazz Fest Movies
Wednesday, April 22nd | 6:30 p.m. with John Pult and Band in a Pocket
Tickets: $25, Members $15 (Online Night Only, Tickets Limited to 100)
Join Friends of the Cabildo for a one-night-only screening of the Louisiana State Museum’s collection of seven different 16mm film reels from the 1970 Jazz Fest. Dillard professor Jon Pult will moderate the event with the Band-In-A-Pocket Jazz Trio performing live during sections of film without sound.
Don Perry, one of the founders of the New Orleans Jazz Club and a former WDSU cameraman filmed the first festival in 1970 and donated the reels to the Louisiana State Museum (LSM) in 1978. The LSM digitized the films in 2012 allowing them to be preserved for generations of Jazz Fest and music fans. The seven separate films show artists such as Duke Ellington, Pete Fountain, Danny Barker and Mahalia Jackson.
Neighborhoods of New Orleans Class
Tickets: Members $40 / $50 GA (All Classes Recording and Emailed the Next Day) | Lectures: May 19 (4pm), 20 (4pm), 21st (4pm & 6pm Classes), 27 (4pm)
Friends of the Cabildo and the Louisiana State Museum have joined its strong educational backgrounds to create the first Friends of the Cabildo Adult History Class beginning May 19th. Focused on the diverse and unique the five-part class will dissect the often debated and completely New Orleans distinct areas of the City. Beginning with the French Quarter and Faubourg St. Mary, each session will look at some of the different neighborhoods from the Garden District to Faubourg St. John to suburbanization of the 1950s.
May 19 (4pm) & 20 (4pm) – French Quarter & CBD | Downtown Neighborhoods
May 21 (6pm) – Garden District, Uptown, Carrollton
May 27 (6pm) – MidCity, Broadmore, Gentilly
May 28 (4pm) – The Suburbs of New Orleans
Previous History Classes Available To Purchase
Previously Recorded Classes that can be purchased for 6-month use (Educational Only)
- Researching Your New Orleans Property Seminar and History of New Orleans Architecture Lecture (3 Hour Class) ($25 Member – $35 GA)
- Founding of New Orleans Class (4 Classes, 8 Hours) ($30 Member – $40 GA)
- The Neighborhoods of New Orleans Class (5 Classes, 10 Hours ($40 Member – $50 GA)
- History of Carnival Class (4 Classes, 8 Hours): ($30 Member – $40 GA)
- History of Louisiana and New Orleans Music (3 Classes, 6 Hours): ($25 Member – $35 GA)
- History of Rum (3 Classes, 6 Hours): ($25 Member – $35 GA)
- Researching Your Cemetery Property (3 Classes, 5 Hours): ($25 Member – $35 GA)
- History of New Orleans Hip Hop (3 Classes, 6 Hours): ($25 Member – $35 GA)
We also have recorded all of our symposiums and over 75 lectures on Louisiana History and Culture!
Contact jason@friendsofthecabildo.org to purchase the recordings
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
Thursday, Feb. 13, 6pm | Sponsored by Friends of the Cabildo
Join us for a virtual evening with Katy Morlas Shannon as she discusses her new book Invisible Blackness: A Louisiana Family in the Age of Racial Passing (LSU Press, March 2025). This program is sponsored by the Friends of the Cabildo as part of the Second Thursday Lecture Series. It is free and open to the public, but registration is required. The program will take place on Zoom. Please register here and a link will be emailed to you on the day of the lecture.
Friends of the Cabildo Annual Meeting & Lafayette Exhibit Champagne Reception
Thursday | May 22nd | 6pm | Cabildo
All FOC Members are invited to the the Cabildo (701 Chartres Street) at 6:00 p.m. (Annual Meeting and Speaker 6:30 p.m.-7:15 p.m.) with Champagne offered offered before and after to see the newest Louisiana Museum State Exhibit on the Marquis de Lafayette’s multi-day visit to New Orleans in 1826. Along with the annual meeting business exhibit curator Randolph Delahanty will speak on the exhibit.