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Mardi Gras celebration live online Saturday

Juliet Dunn and Peter Shea are ready for a Mardi Gras celebration Saturday.
Juliet Dunn and Peter Shea are ready for a Mardi Gras celebration Saturday. (Photo supplied)

As the Award-winning TD Niagara Jazz Festival began its seventh year, with festival founders and creative directors Juliet Dunn and Peter Shea were preparing programming and fundraising events, the world was stopped in its tracks by COVID-19, says Dunn.

It is more important than ever, Dunn says, “that we unite in healing the world through the arts, as well as through love, joy and compassion.”

With this in mind,
and with support of the TD Bank Group, the festival is creating a virtual version
of the popular Niagara’s Summer Mardi Gras on Saturday, July 18, from 3 to
11 p.m.

The festival brings New Orleans to the north, featuring a virtual parade, Cajun food, New Orleans classic cocktails, with beads, baubles, feathers and fun also recommended.

Here are the steps offered by festival organizers to join in on the fun: 

1. Save the date: Saturday, JULY 18, and round up your “krewe” (neighbors, friends and family)! 

2. Decide where to celebrate with us, and with your crew (balcony, garden, backyard, living room, etc.).

3. Watch our Mardi Gras session videos to help with steps four through eight. 

4. Make (or get) a Mardi Gras mask. 

5. Find your funky outfits (beads, baubles, feathers and more). 

6. Make your classic New Orleans cocktail. 

7. Make your Cajun meal.

8. Get your dance steps, moves and grooves down. 

9. Watch the parade on JULY 18 on the FaceBook or YouTube Channel at 3 p.m.  

10. Party with us on July 18, and watch all bands on our FaceBook or on our YouTube Channel from 5 p.m. to 11  p.m.

11. Post your photos on our social media platforms (@jazzniagara) for a chance to win 2021 festival passes.

12. Come out and see us in 2021 when we can celebrate face to face.

The event presents artists from both New Orleans and Canada, and includes performances by Delfeayo Marsalis and the Uptown Jazz Orchestra, Ecirb Müller’s Twisted Dixie, Red Hot Ramble, Big Smoke Brass Band, InstaChoir, The Vaudevillians, The Big Butter and Egg Men, and more.