We’ll be presenting a special Creole concert in honor of San Malo, led by Leroy Etienne. In the 1780s, Juan San Malo rose as the leader of a network of maroon villages outside of New Orleans.  Along Chef Menteur, through the Rigolets, and down into St. Bernard Parish, he inspired families who escaped slavery to create an alternative economy and way of life outside of bondage. Although no imageof him remains, San Malo’s dreams of freedom carry on in St. Martin altars dedicated to runaway slaves, Creole songs and poems, and nicknames around the region.

There will be a St. Martin altar in honor San Malo on the ground floor of the Old U.S. Mint, opposite the NPS ranger station.

Free and open to the public, sponsored by the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park.