UPDATE: This event will now take place at Kermit’s Mother-in-Law Lounge on Thursday, November 1, following Backstreet Cultural Museum’s All Saints Day tribute.

Gold Digger Baby Doll Merline Kimble has announced LoveFest 2018, a community fundraiser to benefit Backstreet Cultural Museum curator Sylvester Francis, to be held on Saturday, October 20, 2018.

The event will gather an array of local musicians, mardi gras Indians and culture bearers, including trumpeter James Andrews, Bruce “Sunpie” Barnes, Bamboula 2000, Big Chief Fi-Yi-Yi, the Gold Digger Baby Dolls, Corey Henry, Bobby Love & Friends, Mandingo Warriors, Mohawk Hunters and many more.

For close to two decades, Francis has run the Backstreet Cultural Museum, located on Henriette Delille Street, preserving, displaying and spreading elements of New Orleans black street culture. In 2003, he was awarded with Best of the Beat HeartBeat Award.