The Christmas season unofficially begins tonight at 6 p.m. in true New Orleans style — with Irvin Mayfield performing at the St. Louis Cathedral.

Mayfield will be heralding the start of “Christmas New Orleans Style.” Begun 23 years ago by French Quarter Festivals, Inc. (the same folks who do French Quarter Festival and Satchmo SummerFest), Christmas New Orleans Style is a program of month-long December events and celebrations originally created to boost tourism during the slower winter months. The events have become so successful that New Orleans was named one of the top Christmas destinations by HGTV (Home and Garden Television) in 2008.

Partnering with the New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation, FQFI compiles every holiday event in the city into one handy brochure. It includes times, places, and descriptions for cooking demonstrations, Christmas hotel rates (called Papa Noël rates), the full list of St. Louis Cathedral concerts, and even full lists of the Creole Reveillon menus.

The free Christmas Concerts in St. Louis Cathedral are the centerpiece of Christmas New Orleans Style, and they have become so popular that at last year’s Ellis Marsalis performance, there was standing room only.

The list of performers this year has also seen an increase in notable names. There are a number of gospel choirs, but jazz vocalist John Boutté will sing December 16, and trumpeter Connie Jones and pianist Tom McDermott will perform together December 9. The series, which understandably focuses on spirituals, begins tonight with trumpeter Irvin Mayfield, who performed a portion of the Nutcracker Suite when he played the cathedral last Christmas time.

The full list of events, including all of the performers for the cathedral concerts, can be found here. Each concert starts at 6 p.m. and lasts about an hour.