Wednesday / One hit wonders : Hit Me America, a traveling showcase that seeks out talented songwriters throughout America, will host a “live jam session” at The Republic (828 S Peters) at 7 PM (doors open at 6 PM). The “jam session” will showcase several pre-selected Louisiana musicians who will perform for the live audience. The audience, in turn, will be able to determine how the varied compilation of beats should be combined into a hit song. “If the song hits,” reminds Hit Me America. “The audience takes the ride with the artist.” Tickets start at $10.
MASNO’s International Piano Competition will run through the week, at Loyola University’s Rousel Hall.
Wednesday – Sunday : The right key / The Musical Arts Society of New Orleans hosts their 25th annual International Piano Competition, in conjunction with their Keyboard Festival, through the end of the week. The competition brings the best young pianists in the world (yes, the world), under the roof of Rousel Hall at Loyola University, as the tremendously talented set of musicians play for top honors. The semifinals (held each day at 7 PM) will run throughFriday; on Saturday, at 2 PM, the finalists will perform a showcase recital set, and, on Sunday, the finals will commence at 2 PM. Tickets start at $20. You can find a detailed competition schedule here. And in case you missed our feature about showcase, you can learn more about the competition here.
Wednesday – Sunday / Hits the funny bone : Through Sunday, local sketch and standup theater The New Movement Theater hosts the second leg of their annual comedy marathon, Megaphone Marathons, which travels from Austin, Texas to NOLA and features 100 comedians through the course of 30 shows. Show times vary; for the complete lineup click here. Shows will be held at the New Movement Theater, 1919 Burgundy. Tickets start at $7.
Saturday / Press play : In conjunction with the Historic New Orleans Collection’s current exhibition, From Cameo to Close-up: Louisiana in Film — an exhibit concerned with iterations of local film-making — the museum offers a seven-part Saturday film series (set to run through November). In its third week, THNOC will screen Robert Aldrich thriller Hush…Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964), starring Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, and Joseph Cotten. The film chronicles the downward spiral of Bette Davis’s Charlotte Hollis after the brutal murder of her lover, John Mayhew (Bruce Dern), as she attempts to save her antebellum mansion from demolition.
The screening will begin at 10:30 AM at the Williams Research Center (410 Chartres Street ). The event is free and open to the public.
The New Orleans Daiquiri Fest returns for its fourth annual run this weekend.
Saturday & Sunday / Who daiq?! : National Daiquiri Day may be over, but this is New Orleans, after all, so the Daiq remains an eternally relevant city creation. The fourth annual Daiquiri Festival — celebrating go-cups and the classic, sugar-rocket-of-a-New-Orleans-concoction that fills red Solos’ plastic interiors — beckons folks to indulge in the boozy treat during a two-day festival that will include live music; a plethora of food; a make-your-own-snoball stand; and, of course, daiqs on daiqs on daiqs.
The festival runs from 11 AM – 8 PM both days, at 548 Marigny Street. One-day tickets start at $8.
NOLAbeings Multimedia artist Claire Bangser created NOLAbeings as a portrait-based story project that marries... 
Voodoo in New Orleans: Reviving history: New Orleans fortune telling This article takes a deep dive into the history of Voodoo in New Orleans, its hybridization with Catholicism, and its present-day place in the city's culture. The author visits fortune-tellers in the French Quarter, using their guidance as a tool for introspection rather than a deterministic predictor of the future. Through her experiences in New Orleans, the author feels a mystical connection to both the past and the future. 