FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contacts:
Adolph Bynum, 504-210-6582, adolphbynumsr@yahoo.com
Naydja Bynum, 504-975-3514, naydjabynum@gmail.com

New Orleans, LA --  On the first weekend of October 2016, the Historic Faubourg Treme' Association (HFTA) will host the Second Annual Tremé Fall Fest. The free festival has a dual purpose: to celebrate, showcase and enjoy the music, food and arts that are historic Treme's rich and vibrant culture, and to raise much needed funds to keep our vital cultural and historic institutions alive and well in the 21st century. The first festival in 2015 raised $25,000 to partially restore and paint the façade of St. Augustine Catholic Church. This year's festival and patron party proceeds will be dedicated to continued repairs at the church and grants for neighborhood cultural non-profits.

"Much of the vibrant culture for which New Orleans is known was born in the Treme' community," said Adolph Bynum Sr., one of the founders of the fest and HFTA's Cultural Committee Chair. HFTA, and the larger Treme' Community, views the restoration and maintenance of our historical and cultural sites as our most important mission."

To kick off the festival weekend, a patron party will be held on Friday, September 30, from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m., at the George & Joyce Wein Jazz and Heritage Center, 1225 N. Rampart St.  The Honorable Cedric Richmond and Mrs. Raquel Greenup Richmond will serve as honorary chairs for the event. This year, Treme Fall Fest honors Benny Jones of the Treme' Brass Band with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Christian Bold Band with Naydja Cojoe will perform. The $100 ticket price for this event includes food, drink, live entertainment, access to the silent auction, and parking on site.

On Saturday, October 1, from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., the Tremé Fall Fest will offer food, arts and crafts and musical performances on the grounds of St. Augustine Church, and on the neighboring streets of Governor Nicholls and Henriette Delille. Fest entertainers include Tank & the Bangas, Glen David Andrews, Little Freddie King, To Be Continued Brass Band, Doreen Ketchens, Michael "Soulman" Baptiste, Zulu Connection, Casa Samba Drum line, One Beat and Ray Wimbley. An All-Star Treme' Band made up of musicians from the neighborhood, including Kermit Ruffins, Shannon Powell, James Andrews and more will be featured. The family friendly festival will offer health screenings by St. Anna's, voter registration, tours of St. Augustine Church, as well as activities and entertainment for kids. Fest goers are encouraged to bring their lawn chairs and/or blankets.

On Sunday, October 2, St. Augustine Church, located at 1210 Gov. Nicholls, will celebrate its 175th Anniversary, officiated by Archbishop Gregory M. Aymond, Archbishop of New Orleans. A reception will follow the mass.

Local artist Rob "Nice" Bocage, a previous NBA Pelican and current New Orleans Saints host, has designed a limited edition poster that will be available for purchase. To learn more about the Tremé Festival, or to donate, or purchase patron party tickets and festival posters, please visit www.tremefest.com.

About St. Augustine Church
St. Augustine Church has a rich and important history in America. It was dedicated on October 9, 1842. Free people of color bought more pews for their families than any other contributors, and then bought all the pews of both side aisles. The side-aisle pews were given to slaves, who were welcomed to worship there, a first in the history of slavery in America. The mixture of pews resulted in the most integrated congregation in the United States. Free people of color, white people, multi-ethnic people, and slaves regularly attended the church together.

A month after the church was dedicated, Henriette Delille, a free woman of color, and Juliette Gaudin, a Cuban, knelt publicly at the alter and pledged to work for orphan girls, the uneducated, the poor, the sick, and the elderly among free people of color. That was the beginning of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Family, the second-oldest African American congregation of religious women in America.

Historical figures Homer Plessy, of the famous U.S. Supreme Court case Plessy vs. Ferguson, and Alexander P. Tureaud, Sr., a giant among the civil rights attorneys of the 1960s were members of St. Augustine Church.

The church continues as an active congregation to this day and attracts numerous visitors from all over the world to their 10 a.m. Sunday mass.

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