Holiday signs are all around.  Windows glow with Christmas lights, red ribbon line doorways, and families engage in trivial fights, but according to the wisdom of Buddy the Elf, nothing spreads Christmas cheer quite like “singing aloud for all to hear.”  

Even the most elaborate Christmas décor will barely glimmer against this weekend’s bonfire at Algiers Point. The federal flood did all it could to wash out the time-honored tradition, but it returned last year to reclaim its rightful home near the ferry.

A two-alarm blaze spread through most of an Algiers Point home Tuesday morning. The rear wall of the home at 923-925 Vallette Street collapsed during the fire, which is believed to have begun in the laundry room of the house just after 9 a.m. According to the New Orleans Fire Department, heavy smoke was coming from the one-story house when personnel arrived, and the blaze had already spread to a good portion of the house.

It's that time of year again, when bugs of all type go from falling out of the trees to  invading your home, and Wednesday at the Square slides neatly into Wednesdays at the Point. This year's annual Algiers Point summer humpday concert series is set to kick of June 6. Today, the lineup was announced for the two-month run of shows, which will once again be anchored at the Algiers Ferry Dock, located at 200 Morgan St. Ferry tolls may be in doubt, but these concerts remain free. Start planning your trips across the Mighty Mississippi now. Click through to view:

by Ryan Sparks

Southeast Louisiana’s French heritage endures in many ways, but as the holidays approach, one tradition shines bright among the others, probably because it involves a giant fire. Along Mississippi River levees throughout the parishes to our north, the the burning of the yule log is reinterpreted as a blazing tower that helps Papa Noel find his way through the swamp.  This Saturday night the Algiers Holiday Bonfire will provide a flaming spectacle closer to home, kicking off the season of joy and giving. Click through for more pictures.

Australian DJ Alexander Beddows came to New Orleans and met some locals at JazzFest. Last Saturday, he went to local bars in Algiers Point, but disappeared that night. He was last seen at Louie's Corner Bar. The Land Down Under's Canberra Times calls Beddows, who was known around those parts as "Woody," a leading DJ in the Australian capital's music scene. His parents are still in New Orleans, but they remain "baffled" by the disappearance, the paper says.

In Cajun Country, it's not a true holiday until you can torch something up to the high heavens. Up north, the town of Paulina witnesses the construction of more than 100 bonfires in December on its Mississippi River levee. Most of the tepee-style structures are lit all at once on Christmas Eve, and help to, um, yeah, you know, Santa needs to find his way home. Down here in the big city, Algiers will light up its levee bonfire Saturday for the first time since Katrina. Not to be mistaken for a smoke signal designed to remind you that Algiers Point still exists, the bonfire concludes a day of "Holidays at the Point" festivities.

The Saints' bye week gives us a little extra time to take the ferry, and check out the scene in that West Bank adjunct of Crescent charm known as Algiers Point.