Overview
By Mary Foster

So what makes Christmas New Orleans Style different from Christmas anywhere else? For openers, Christmas carols come out kickin' to that crazy New Orleans backbeat, and spirits get to jumpin' with holiday joy at the nightly concerts in St. Louis Cathedral.

"The cathedral is such a beautiful setting and the music sends your soul soaring," said Tom Johnson, who wandered into a concert on his way home from work. "The Christmas concerts were inspiring," said Gia Rabito, vice president of corporate communications for a local bank. "People were laughing and clapping and singing, they were obviously moved."

Lots of Christmas revelers in New Orleans shout Hallelujah! - not only in churches, but in restaurants too, because a New Orleans Reveillon dinner can make even the shyest person irrepressibly jolly. Of course, New Orleans cooking can turn anybody into an epicure any day of the week, and twice on Friday.

The French Quarter is decorated like never before, which is saying a lot for a to wn that loves exhibitionism. "This is like walking into a picture book on Christmas," Jennifer Johnson, a visitor from New York, said as she looked up at the wrought iron balconies along St. Ann Street, all draped in lights, ribbons and wreaths. "It's really been a special trip for our family. We'll never forget this Christmas."

There's so much history in the Place d'Arms, which is the original name for Jackson Square, that you might even come across the likes of Edgar Degas, the Baroness de Pontalba or maybe Andrew Jackson, himself, taking an afternoon stroll there. If you do happen to run into the General, ask him if his bayou warriors at the Battle of New Orleans really did put a cannonball in a gator's mouth and powder its behind.

So if you don't mind moss on the trees instead of snow, and wearing short sleeves instead of ski-suits, then come and visit New Orleans anytime between December 5 and December 26, because that's when the fun takes on a special Christmas feeling in the city where music, food and excitement are a way of life.

And bring the whole family with you. New Orleans, which has long been a favorite destination of the Mardi Gras-loving, Bourbon Street-parading party goers, is now being discovered by more and more families, especially during the Christmas season. "People who think of New Orleans in terms of Bourbon Street alone are shortchanging themselves," says Gary Esolen of the New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation. "There are many unique attractions in our city and our Christmas celebration is certainly one of them."

Christmas New Orleans Style has expanded many of the traditional events that local residents have long enjoyed.

The four weeks preceding Christmas, called Advent in the Catholic religion, was formerly a time of fasting, as was Christmas Eve itself. "Traditionally, Reveillon was the meal Creole families ate after Midnight Mass," said Ted Brennan of Brennan's Restaurant. "It was really a feast because families had been fasting before Mass."

"Reveillon" is a name that comes from the French word for "awakening" because it was eaten in the early morning. Now, however, you don't have to fast, or stay up all night, to enjoy it. It is a four or five-course prix fixe feast served at about 30 restaurants. The dinners offer such delicacies as turtle and alligator soup, roast goose or bayou oysters with Herbsaint creme sauce, and desserts including sweet potato flan with praline sauce and white chocolate bread pudding. "It's a chance for our chef to really do some wonderful traditional dishes that are a big part of the season for many families," Brennan said.

And if you'd like to sample New Orleans food, and its many influences from French, Cajun, Creole, Italian, German and others, you'll love the holiday cooking demonstrations that are part of Christmas New Orleans Style. Acclaimed chefs from throughout the city will create their favorite recipes in daily cooking demonstrations at Le Petit Theatre, which is the oldest, continuous community theater in the United States. This is your chance to taste the city's best food, and inhale the romance of the history of performing arts in America.

The bonfires that stretch for miles along the Mississippi levee are a longtime Cajun tradition that began way back at the beginning. Y'see, the swamp and the river can get so foggy, that sometimes Papa Noel gets lost (including sometimes when it isn't so foggy).

Cajun parents all wanted to make sure that Papa Noel would find his way to their homes to bring his gifts to their children, so they built enormous bonfires along the levee and set them afire on Christmas Eve. They also made sure that the bonfires were bigger and brighter than his - or his possum, Renaldo's - nose, so Papa Noel could see where he was going.

Over the last 10 to 15 years, the building of these bonfires has become a competition of daring and vision, engineering and artistry. Teams erect elaborate, and amazingly true to life, replicas of plantation homes, giant alligators, even the state capitol, huge wooden works of art that will burst into fiery celebration on Christmas Eve. There are tours that will take you up river for the spectacle.

However, you don't have to wait until Christmas Eve to enjoy a bonfire. Troy Carter, a New Orleans councilman, stages a special bonfire on the levee across from Jackson Square on Saturday, December 4. In addition to the bonfire, there is a celebration with live music along the riverfront.

New Orleans is a city of lights this time of year. Visitors will find the city ablaze with decorations. Lights cover over the ornate balconies in the French Quarter, brighten the shops and hotel lobbies, and warm nearly every window. "The whole celebration is wonderful, but seeing the French Quarter come alive with holiday lights is the best part," said Warren L. Reuther, Jr., chief executive officer of Hospitality Enterprises. "There's already this toy-like quality to the French Quarter because of the scale of its old buildings," said Michael Valentino, managing partner for French Quarter Hotels. "When you add Christmas lights and decorations, it looks like a romantic little village from centuries ago." Add to that picture, merry costumed carolers strolling throughout the French Quarter, serenading shoppers in the quaint boutiques, antique shops and hotel lobbies.

Besides the caroling, Christmas shoppers will find plenty to make them happy, from the French Quarter shops selling one of a kind antiques, jewelry and fashions, to the modern malls like Canal Place, Jax Brewery, The Riverwalk, and New Orleans Center. Shoppers can select from the upscale or the funky, and go home with unique gifts, guaranteed. "I loved shopping here," said Penny Phillips of Los Angeles. "I don't have to worry about anyone else duplicating my presents. After all, how many people do you know are giving voodoo dolls as gifts?"

Enchanted, also, is the incredible Celebration in the Oaks, which turns the majestic, mossy oaks of City Park into a magical fairy land, alight with tiny bulbs - like half a million angels winking at you- plus carolers, storybook villages, horse-drawn carriages, a miniature train ride and an old-fashioned carousel. "The lights are just spectacular," said Houston resident Lanisha Clark, on her visit to Celebration in the Oaks. "And the little train and carousel really thrilled my kids." Celebration in the Oaks also provides children with 40 tons of snow to play in. The snow is trucked in, and, in the mild New Orleans climate, strictly temporary.

Also of special interest are the historic museum-mansions in the French Quarter that are dressed in period finery for the holidays. Christmas Day receives special attention with two concerts entitled "Hallelujah, It's Christmas," both staged at Le Petit Theatre on Chartres and St. Peter Streets in the French Quarter.

The Papa Noel room rates at hotels citywide make Christmas New Orleans Style just that much more attractive. "You can find room rates from 40 to 60 percent off the regular rates," Brett Smith of the Louis XVI said. "So it's a bargain as well as a lot of fun. "All the hotels offer a discount," said Valentino. "And one of the wonderful things is that we have such a broad range of accommodations from historic inns and guest houses to large corporate hotels and charming bed and breakfast operations. And in New Orleans your room is only footsteps from everything that's going on."

Put this together with all the fun that New Orleans naturally is, and you got yourself one glorious good time. And though the Christmas New Orleans Style is a family celebration, visitors include many single people and couples as well. After all, this is New Orleans - we may doze, but we never close.

There will also be a ceremonial lighting of the menorah for Hanukkah and special activities for Kwanzaa.

A special Christmas New Orleans Style booklet describing the celebration may be obtained by calling 1-800-584-3166. It comes with a free copy of "New Orleans Good Times Guide," complete with a lodging guide and $2,500 in discounts on shopping, dining, attractions, and more.