In October 2022, the museum will be hosting a variety of events and exhibit unveilings that celebrate cultural and culinary diversity.
These are the exciting events you can’t miss this October at the SoFab Museum:
1. Opening Celebration of The First Settlement: Filipinos in Louisiana Exhibit
When: Saturday, October 1st
Time: 9:30-11:00am
In honor of Filipino American History Month (October), SoFAB will team up with the Honorary Consulate of the Republic of the Philippines and the Philippine-Louisiana Historical Society to celebrate The First Settlement: Filipinos in Louisiana exhibit – an exhibit that highlights Louisiana’s Filipino community and the impact Filipinos have had on our shared culture. The first settlement of Filipinos in the United States was in St. Bernard Parish, only a few miles from the soon-to-open SoFAB Research Center at Nunez Community College. Visitors will be able to see the Filipino Exhibit and then travel further into St. Bernard Parish to learn more about the history of Filipinos in Louisiana. The opening celebration will take place at SoFAB; 1504 Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard and the exhibit will be housed at Nunez Community College Library, 3710 Paris Road in Chalmette, Louisiana in Chalmette, LA and admission is free.
2. SoFAB Research Center Kick-Off Event
When: October 6, 2022
Time: 9:30am -11:00am
On Thursday, October 6 SoFAB and Nunez Community College will celebrate the opening of the SoFAB Research Center – a collaborative culinary and historical center on Nunez’s campus in St. Bernard Parish. The partnership between SoFAB and Nunez combines SoFAB’s 40,000 culinary books, thousands of menus and pamphlets, and hundreds of archived artifacts with Nunez’s state-of-the-art library and archive facilities. The SoFAB Research Center and Boyd Library will consolidate culinary research by making it possible to cross-reference all SoFAB collections – the Boyd Library, the archives, and the artifacts – creating new opportunities for in-depth research on the history of food and drink in the South. The combined effort will offer something unique for the region: a full-service culinary research center that will be animated by Nunez’s culinary programming and utilized by students, researchers, and interested members of the community throughout the Gulf South. Event will start with a reception at 9:30AM at the Nunez Community College Library, 3710 Paris Road in Chalmette, Louisiana.
3. Honey Dripper Juke Joint
When: Saturday, October 15
Time: 6:00pm-10:00pm
Travel back in time as SoFAB is transformed into the Honey Dripper Juke Joint for a very special evening to commemorate the opening of the Honey Dripper ’84 – a fully-immersive museum exhibit representing the era of Juke Joints – informal community spaces at the center of African American life in rural communities where drinking, dancing, music and gambling brought together workers from farms and fields to gather together and unwind.
That evening, guests can enjoy cocktails, culinary delights and live music curated by Matthew and Tia Raiford of Strong Roots – an inclusive collective of BIPOC farmers, growers, chefs and naturalists dedicated to pioneering a return to the holistic practices of their forefathers. The menu will feature authentic Juke Joint dishes like pulled pork, catfish, meatloaf sandwiches, fried chicken and southern vegetables, along with specialty Juke Joint themed cocktails. The interactive exhibit will feature original artwork by New Orleans local artist Gavin Jones , along with archival material, vintage advertisements, popular records and other iconic aspects of Juke Joint design. The exhibit space will also feature a working pool table and jukebox. Tickets for the Juke Joint opening event on October 15th are $50 for adults and $40 for museum members.
Featured image by the SoFab Museum @eatdrinksofab