DecaFest

Concurrent with the annual Southern Decadence revelry that attracts 100,000 visitors during Labor Day weekend, DecaFest is a five-day GLBT celebration in New Orleans. It’s a joyful occasion for locals and visitors to share our culture and our city.

This year’s DecaFest will be Wednesday, August 27 through Monday, September 1. Principal performance venues will be the Freeport-McMoRan Theater at the Contemporary Arts Center, 900 Camp Street, and the Voodoo Mystere Lounge Theater, 718 North Rampart Street. Other events will be at various sites in the French Quarter.

DecaFest is entertainment – theatre, music, comedy and film – the artistry that holds a mirror to the world and shows us ourselves, recording the spirit of exuberance and the courage of heroes. Principal events will also include a Southern Decadence costume contest, including: 

• "New Orleans: Mon Amour - Christian Lloyd on Stage and in Film" - CAC
• "Amazing Place, this New Orleans," Roberts Batson's acclaimed one-man show - CAC
• "Out Comes Butch," starring Frederick Mead - Voodoo
• "A Vision of Tomorrow" a stage adaptation of The Gay Heritage Tour - VooDoo

DecaFest is also about the writers, scholars and collectors of GLBT culture who chronicle and protect the GLBT legacy and offer encouragement to those still adjusting to an alternative lifestyle. According to their mission statement, “DecaFest is our people, our place, our habits and our habitations, our customs and our customary celebrations, the acknowledgement that our frailty binds us together and our resilience, now proven to the world, is a testament in time.”

DecaFest was organized in 2006 to:

• Help fund HIV/AIDS and GLBT community organizations to provide vital services in post-Katrina  New Orleans
• Provide quality entertainment and cultural activities for residents
• Increase cultural tourism by attracting additional GLBT visitors to New Orleans at Labor Day

DecaFest invites every local HIV/AIDS and GLBT community organization to join them as partners, receiving a portion of all tickets purchased by that organization’s members and supporters.

DecaFest partners include AIDS Law of Louisiana; the Forum for Equality; the Lesbian and Gay Community Center of New Orleans; the National Organization for Women; NO/AIDS Task Force; the New Orleans Gay Men's Chorus; Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays; and The Community Coalition of Greater New Orleans Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Businesses and Organizations.

DecaFest is produced by The Bienville Foundation, a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization whose primary mission is to preserve, develop, and promote the vibrant cultures of Louisiana.