New Orleans Tourism celebrated their Soul of NOLA campaign with an exclusive invite-only brunch during the Essence Festival in New Orleans.
Held at the historic Le Musée de f.p.c. museum (2336 Esplanade Ave, New Orleans, LA 70119), the brunch included celebrities like “The Real” host Loni Love, Fox News anchor Arthel Neville and “Queen Sugar” actor Nicoye Banks; in addition to a bevy of Influencers, media personalities and local New Orleans dignitaries and tastemakers.
Le Musée de f.p.c. is a museum set in a house and is one of the country’s few attractions dedicated exclusively to preserving the material culture of and telling the story of free people of color. (Free people of color, often abbreviated f.p.c., is the term used to refer to Blacks who were born free or manumitted prior to the Civil War.)
The of this repository strive through their collection of documents, paintings and decorative arts to present, interpret and preserve the history and culture shared by so many free people of African descent in New Orleans and throughout the country.
Le Musée, the Greek Revival residence at 2336 Esplanade Avenue, and its vicinity, centered in the area known as upper Treme, were originally part of the plantation of Domingo Fleitas. Fleitas, a Spanish colonial who had fought with Galvez in the American Revolution, had grandchildren born free people of color. Though this residence was never owned by persons of color until its present ones, because of their dominance in the building trades, it can be assumed that they participated in the construction.
While a local brass band played, guests dined on dishes like crawfish pies, shrimp and grits, gumbo and white chocolate bread pudding all prepared by New Orleans-bred Chef Toya Boudy. Affectionately known as Chef Toya, the culinary curator is fresh off of being a contestant on season 13 of Food Network’s competition series “Food Network Star.”
The brunch also featured art created by local artists; stations where women could learn to wrap their head in period head wraps; black dolls; and other artifacts relevant to historic nature of free slaves.
A picturesque home museum, fans braved the heat and dined both indoors and outdoors at the brunch, some even dancing to the sounds of the local while sazerac cocktails from the bar flowed.
Inspired by the OWN Network series created by Ava DuVernay, several guests posed for photos on the porch of Le Musée de f.p.c. and created their own versions of a “Queen Sugar” cast shoot.
Overall, the soul of NOLA was clearly embodied and definitely defined at this private brunch by New Orleans Tourism.