Close out your Jazz Fest with Trombone Shorty! All day long, enjoy a free festival with Quintron and Helen Gillet, see Los Po-Boy-Citos on Freret, and catch the last night of giant puppets! On this day in 1713, Antoine Cadillac was appointed Spanish Governor of Louisiana. Now, more to do this Sunday. 

It's April Fools' Day, but there's some serious fun to be had tonight from Uptown to the Bywater. Lent has come and gone, and it’s time to celebrate with Dyngus Day NOLA! Catch some comedy in the Quarter, cello at Bacchanal, and more. On this day in 2001, Harry Connick Jr. narrated CBS’ documentary “Pistol Pete: The Life and Times of Pete Maravich.” Now, more to do this Easter Monday.

As you may have heard, the world is expected to end on December 21, or so the prediction based on a misinterpretation of ancient Mesoamerican calendars goes. 

It's the most wonderful time of the year, and Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd is running at The AllWays Lounge & Theatre, providing a sobering slap across the rosy-cheeked revelers, just when things were feeling festive.

by Erica Boni

There's no need to go to bed tonight. Join a host of artists of all mediums at Michalopoulos Studios (527 Elysian Fields Ave) for an all night event of creation, observation and collaboration, slumber party style! The party begins at 9pm and continues until seven in the morning. Reese Johanson, a theatrical producer, performer, dancer and visual artist manifested the event in the hopes of creating a space in which artists of all kinds could inspire one another.

by April Siese

As part of the New Orleans Film Festival, Liquid Land premieres with its subjects in the city that inspired it. “I fell in love with New Orleans the first time I came here. I never expected that,” says Michelle Ettlin, director of Liquid Land. Ettlin's first taste of the Crescent City came through traveling with Swiss musician Simon Berz. It was 2009 and Ettlin's expectations of a more conservative music scene composed of tourist-friendly trad jazz were beautifully shattered by the many experimental musicians she met. 

Today, one of New Orleans' early intellectual powers gets a French Quarter salute, DJ Soul Sister continues her series of movies about music and the Restaurant Musical lets the service industry laugh at work on their night off. On this day in Louisiana, a legendary political career was cut short when Huey P. Long died from an assassin's bullet at the state capitol. More than 75 years later, mystery continues to shroud the Kingfish's death (1935). Clarence Gatemouth Brown passed in Texas after evacuating there before the Federal Flood (2005). But enough about going to the other side. Let's give today new life with these:

Between releasing a recent album, playing one-time-only gigs like the Music Box Orchestra and sitting at the helm of her many combos like the Wazozo Zorchestra, Helen Gillet can be tough to pin down. But Alex Rawls managed to corral New Orleans' resident cello chantreuse for a lengthy podcast conversation.

Lap it up at My Spilt Milk

by Mary-Devon Dupuy

On Friday night, the Country Day Creative Arts camp will be showing off what the kids have been up to for the past month, and the closeout promises to go well beyond Paper Mache and finger painting. For the 30th year, CDCA has managed to attract professional artists from New Orleans and all over the country to create one of the most eclectic summer camps in the metro area. Art enthusiasts of all kinds can come to Metairie Park Country Day School (300 Park Dr., Metairie) to enjoy the products of young inventors, dancers, drummers, visual artists, and much more.

Ninety-nine years ago today, rhythm and blues musician Smiley Lewis was born in De Quincey, Louisiana. Lewis recorded “I Hear You Knockin’” in 1955, and it made the mid-century Billboard Charts. Sixty years later, Essence Fest is back in the city, and it’s a good day for art lovers of all kinds. More bookish lovers of soul can check out the Bayou Soul Writer’s and Reader’s Conference. If that doesn’t leave you feeling empowered enough, there’s still enough time to catch Lanford Wilson’s Civil Rights Era play, The Gingham Dog, at the Elm Theatre on Julia.