It may be the summer but that’s doesn’t mean we stop! Catch us at these events this summer:

Every year we participate in the FestiGals’ second line. The theme of this year’s second line, scheduled for Friday, June 22, is Step Up!

The second line is a fun stroll through the French Quarter and the CBD followed by  an after party. There is a philanthropic aspect to the second line as well. This year, the Step Up Second-Line Parade benefits the New Orleans Family Justice Center. The NOFJC has led the way in bringing together community-based domestic violence and sexual assault providers as well as criminal justice and law enforcement professionals to provide wrap-around and comprehensive services to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, and child abuse.

Help us raise funds for the NOFJC. Click here to go to our fundraiser page.

Thank you and see you in the streets, June 22!

Every year we look forward to strutting our stuff in the FestiGal’s Stiletto Stroll. This year’s Grand Diva is Irma Thomas! FestiGals will take to the streets on Saturday, June 13, for a one-of-a-kind New Orleans experience during the Stiletto Stroll. Stroll, strut and sashay down the street in our own spectacular second line parade escorted by police motorcycles, surrounded by musicians, dancers and marching groups. You’ll feel festive and ready to roll, with or without stilettos and costumes!

Following the Stiletto Stroll is the After-Glow Party at Masquerade in Harrah’s Casino where we will be performing a special dance.

And the best part is you can join in too! Visit the FestiGals website for details and to register. Wear your best pink and orange!

FestiGals 2015 Stiletto Stroll Schedule:
6:30 PM – 7:30 PM Pre-party and prep for the Stiletto Stroll & Sprint

7:30 PM – 7:45 PM Stiletto Sprint

8:00 PM – 8:30 PM Stiletto Stroll Parade featuring Grand Diva Irma Thomas

8:30 PM – 10:00 PM After-Glow Party at Masquerade in Harrah’s Casino

After-Glow Party entertainment includes:

DJ Carolina 8 PM-10 PM

Risq Burlesque 10 PM-11 PM

DJ Carolina 11 PM-12 PM

DJ Girl 6 12 PM-till…

Laura joined the Pussyfooters this year and posted about her first experience as a Pussyfooter on her blog L.A. to N.O.LA.

Pussyfooter – Baby Steps at Festigals

The Pussyfooters are a New Orleans dance troupe of over 100 women over-30 who perform in parades, second lines and events. Dressed in head to toe pink and orange, they are, “Majorettes from the Mothership sent here to help the party people get their groove on.” Founded in 2001, they promote the values of service and empowerment. The group just added several new members and one of them is me! I haven’t quite figured out how I’m going to blog about parades when I’m not on the sidelines recording them as they pass, but I do feel I’m entering a whole new level of being a local.

I’ve been blogging about the Pussyfooters for years, usually including photos and videos. I first met many of the Pussyfooters at the Greasing of the Poles at the Royal Sonesta kicking off the last (5-day) weekend of Mardi Gras. My sponsor is actually the woman who so handily beat me in the pole greasing contest. Maybe next year we can have a rematch. As I was walking out to the pole greasing stage on Bourbon Street, one of the women suggested that I should try to be a Pussyfooter. It was like a pink lightbulb went off in my head.

This weekend, between Gay Pride, Festigals “Stiletto Stroll” and some weddings – there were second lines all over the French Quarter.  Normally, I’d grab my camera, find a good spot on the street and enjoy the passing festivities with the rest of the crowd. This time, the cameras pointed at the Pussyfooters were also pointed at me. Despite the fact that I make my living in front of cameras, I’m not used to so many people looking right at me while I’m looking at them. It was a little unnerving.

With the exception of my white Doc Martens boots, I haven’t gotten my official uniform yet and my wig was borrowed from my generous sponsor, Mandy Brown. But I went on a Pretty Woman-like shopping spree and loaded up on fun pink jewelry from So Good and pink fishnets and a fabulous pink “hat” from QT Pie. It wasn’t until I laid them all out on the floor that I realized how much fun I’m going to have embracing the pink in me. The accessories are all fantasy-like Barbie-toned confections that I would have coveted even as a toddler. But, they’re all the type of thing I’ve always been too practical to purchase or even ask for as a gift.

Now, I am beginning my collection of fun, feminine orange and pink costumes. I am thrilled to be meeting over 100 of New Orleans’ finest women. I’m beyond excited to be parading through the streets of New Orleans, especially knowing how excited I would get when I’d see those pink ladies parading toward us. I can’t even believe I get to be in Mardi Gras parades. And I’m gratified to know that I’m part of a non-profit benefitting women in need all over the world. But the thing I hadn’t counted on is how much joy I’d get from getting a sparkly pink rose necklace. If I’d known how much it would delight me, maybe I’d have let go of being practical a long time ago. Lucky for me, I now know the answer to, “But where would I wear it?”

I only knew a couple of Pussyfooters and I didn’t find any of them for some time. I walked up to a group of women wearing the official uniform and felt like when I used to be the new girl in school knowing my clothes weren’t the “right” labels. Standing there in my makeshift uniform with first day jitters, women almost immediately interrupted their own conversations to ask if I was new and introduce themselves. I can’t remember most of the names and I won’t recognize most of them at the grocery, but they made me feel very welcome. And everyone loved my sparkly pink rose necklace as much as I did.

We paraded through the streets of the Quarter behind the 2013 Grand Diva Lydia Benson, a cancer survivor and a former Pussyfooters president. DancingMan504 joined our ranks and was delighted to find he and I would be dancing the streets together now. As we waved to people on balconies and handed out beads to children, at least a dozen women told me that being a Pussyfooter is the most fun they’ve ever had. I can’t wait to find out all the reasons they feel that way.

I’m grateful to the Pussyfooters for inviting me into their fold and letting me be a part of the joy I know they bring to New Orleanians. I’m also grateful to have reconnected to the girl in me who always understood the power of pink.

Click here to visit Laura’s blog and see photos from the parade.

“Sparkle & Shine” by Kat Ford

“Mata Hari” by Lorraine Summers & Jennifer Curry

The Pussyfooters are excited and honored to be again involved with FestiGals! This year we had members decorate two bras for the Bodacious Bras for a Cause Auction. Friday, June 21^st is a luncheon where the bras will be auctioned off, to raise funds for the Cancer Association of Greater New Orleans (CAGNO) to provide meaningful services and support to women with cancer.

The first bra was created by Kat Ford called “Sparkle & Shine.” Her inspiration: “Pussyfooters strut their stuff and shake their booties for all sorts of good causes and charity events as well as just for fun in Mardi Gras Parades. The signature colors of pink, orange, and silver are all represented in a sparkly, feathery creation made just for fun.”

The second bra “Mata Hari” was created by Lorraine Summers & Jennifer Curry.  They were inspired by the costumes of Mata Hari, and imagined Mata Hari as a Pussyfooter.

Both bras are “stuffed” with 2 Pussyfooter Mardi Gras cups, Pussyfooter bumper stickers, Pussyfooter magnets, Pussyfooter temporary tattoos, pink crystal heart-shaped body jewel, Pussyfooter crystal light-up heart shaped necklace, a pink tube of bubbles, pink twisted drinking straws and each bra has a certificate attached valid for two admissions to the Pussyfooter 2014 Blush Ball in January.

All the bras are currently on display at Stein Mart of Metairie store, 2840 Veterans Blvd.  until the luncheon. The Luncheon & Auction will by June 21 and includes a lovely three-course meal with wine and a one-hour Bloody Mary Mixer prior to the lunch and auction. Tickets are $75 each or $650 for a table of 10 and can be purchased on the FestiGal’s website (link below).

You can bid now on these and all the other bras on-line until June 19, 2013. Click here to bid on “Sparkle & Shine” or click here to bid on “Mata Hari.”

The Pussyfooters will be strutting our stuff in the Stiletto Stroll, 7 p.m. June 22rd, a second-line starting at the Hotel Monteleone, traveling down Bourbon Street and ending at Bourbon Heat for the After Party Glow. The After Glow party is also a fundraiser for CAGNO. Tickets for the After Glow party will be available for purchase for $35 a variety of complimentary cocktails, food and entertainment. We are proud to announce that our own Lydia Benson will be this year’s Grand Diva of the Stiletto Stroll, leading the parade in a convertible.

Visit the FestiGals’ web site for full details on these and other related events. www.festigals.org

Updated 06-19-13.