03/12-03/19 -- St. Patrick's and St. Joseph's Days
Other Louisiana Festivals
When: March 12 - 19
St. Patrick's website
St. Joseph's website
About the festival: Just when you think we're done celebrating and settling down for Lent, along comes this week in the middle of March, giving New Orleanians reason to parade one more time. With such a large population of both Irish and Italian descendants here in the city, St. Patrick's Day and St. Joseph's Day are pretty big deals in these here parts.
St. Patrick's Day finds its home - where else? - in the Irish Channel! Jump start your week of Irish by participating in St. Baldrick's Day on March 12. Head to Parasol's (corner of Constance and Third) in the Channel to shave your head for a cure to children's cancer.
In the past nine years, St. Baldrick's has become the world's largest volunteer-driven fundraising program for childhood cancer. Help Parasol's in their goal to raise $10,000 this year!
On Friday, March 13, stop by the Quarter after work for Jim Monaghan's annual Irish Parade, starting at 6 p.m. The parade starts and ends at Molly's in the Market, at 1107 Decatur Street, and the route takes it down Decatur to Bienville, to Burgundy to Conti, to Bourbon and then to Gov. Nicholls. The traditionally all-male parade has expanded this year to include The Big Easy Rollergirls and the Camel Toe Lady Steppers. The Storyville Stompers marching band and the Kazoozie Floozies music group will also be there!
Then, on Saturday, March 14, the Irish Channel St. Patrick's Day Club will hold its 62nd Annual Mass and Parade celebration. The noon mass takes place at St. Mary's Assumption Church (corner of Constance and Josephine Streets), followed by the parade (corner of Felicity and Magazine), which kicks off at 1 p.m. During the parade, be on the lookout for float riders tossing cabbages, potatoes, carrots and onions. If you can catch some of each, you'll have all the makings for an Irish stew! Also keep an eye out for unexpected kisses: The marching men, strolling down the 
streets wearing tuxedos and carrying canes loaded with paper carnations, will trade flowers for kisses from pretty girls.
Sunday, March 15, brings the St. Patrick Parade of Jefferson Parish, starting at noon. It starts at Severn near Archbishop Rummel High School, turns left onto Metairie Road and rolls to Focis and Canal Streets, where it disbands. The parade features 34 floats, 52 trucks, 11 marching clubs, antique cars and representatives from the Farhad Grotto and Jerusalem Temple.
St. Patrick's Day itself is also full of festivities. Parasol's has their annual St. Patty's Day block party, when they block off the streets and fill them with kegs of green beer. The party lasts all day, so try to take off work now! The Irish Channel St. Patrick's Day Club is back on the 17th as well, with their benefit block party. The party goes from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and is in the Annunciation Square Playground, directly in front of St. Michael's Special School. All of the proceeds from this party will be donated to St. Michael's, which is located right in the heart of the Channel.
And don't forget The Downtown Irish Club Parade, which takes place every year on St. Patrick's Day itself, regardless of the day of the week. It starts at 6:30 p.m. at Desire and Burgundy, winds its way through the Marigny and Quarter, and disbands at Bourbon and Dumaine. Stops along the way will include Markey's Bar, Mimi's in the Marigny, Tujagues, Molly's at the Market and Fritzel's Jazz Pub on Bourbon.
Pat O'Brien's is another great place to celebrate St. Patty's Day. With its obvious Irish heritage and location right off of Bourbon Street, you can be sure that Pat's will be packed with green-wearing, leprechaun-loving, kiss-giving Irish-for-a-day crowds. They'll even have drink specials and Irish lunch specials! and winds its way through the French Quarter streets. Last but not least, you can head to St. Bernard Parish to watch the Irish-Italian-Islenos Parade roll by, with 20 floats, 2000 riders and 300,000 pounds of produce to throw!
The Italian-American Marching Club is responsible for putting on New Orleans' St. Joseph's Day Parade, celebrating the close-knit Italian community that added such a distinct flavor to the Crescent City over 100 years ago. The 39th Annual St. Joseph's Parade will be on March 14, 2009. There will be floats and marchers dressed in black tuxedos, and the marching part of the parade will begin at Canal and Chartres at 6:00 p.m. Their walking route keeps them in the busier parts of the French Quarter for almost four hours, and they come prepared to throw beads, flowers and fava "lucky" beans the entire time. They also dance and sing with the bystanders.
Another big aspect of St. Joseph's Day that can be found at churches all over town is the St. Joseph's Altar. According to the Italian American Marching Club's website, a St. Joseph Altar is an offering of love, labor and sacrifice in honor of St. Joseph, the patron saint of the Sicilians and the Universal Church. Each year, altars laden with food are prepared on March 19th to celebrate his 
feast day.
Reasons for having the altars vary: to fulfill a promise, to give thanks for a favor granted, for healing the sick, for a happy family life, for success in studies or business. It is also an opportunity for the prosperous to share with those less fortunate. Preparations are made weeks in advance for the Great Day.
A traditional altar will include many symbolic baked goods, like the Cuchidati, a large, golden-brown bread that is rolled and cut into wreaths to represent the Crown of Thorns. Pupacoulova, baskets contained dyed eggs, foretell of the coming of Easter and the Resurrection. Pignolati cookies represent the pine cones Jesus played with as a child. There are fluffy coconut bars and lambs, Bible-shaped layer cakes, cannoli and sfingi, which are Italian-style beignets. There will also be displays of fruits, vegetables and seafoods, but never meat, because the feast occurs during Lent. No St. Joseph's Day celebration would be complete without a visit to a St. Joseph's altar, but since they are usually found in churches, it is best to not go on the same day as the parade!
