CulturePAC New Orleans Up From The Streets

In New Orleans, the most effective change has always come from the bottom, up from the streets, from the traditions and rituals of the city's people and usually from those most in need of change.
The annual St. Joseph's Night community celebrations on the streets of New Orleans are a perfect example. St. Joseph is the Italian Patron Saint of the Laborer and Families. More than 100 years ago Italians and African Americans neighbors joined their heritage and traditions to celebrate the Saint together every March 19th in one of America's most unique gatherings.
As the sun sets people begin gathering at the sacred ground in Central City at Washington and LaSalle Streets and at Second and Dryades Streets. As the sky turns from pink, to purple to a deep midnight blue, rhythm and chants can begin to be heard.
Soon mutli-colored feathered plumes can be seen floating in the distance and the chants, beats and rhythms become louder as Mardi Gras Indians make their way to the four corners, and the people begin to sing and dance with their arrival on this most special night.