Festivals

Free Mardi Gras beads at New Orleans Airport

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Going to New Orleans?

If your trip begins on a Friday, you’re in luck.

Since September, Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport has been hosting “Throw me something, Fridays” and offering free Mardi Gras beads to arriving passengers.

250-300 pounds of beads are handed out on an average Friday and on the Friday before Mardi Gras airport staff handed out 1100 pounds of beads – along with stuffed animals, balsa wood airplanes, luggage tags and other “Welcome to New Orleans” treats.

Reed Barnes, the airport’s customer service manager, told me that the purple, green and gold beads are handed, not thrown, to travelers from 5 a.m. until 9 p.m. each Friday and that “No one has to lift their shirts” in order to get some beads. “Although,” said Barnes, “a lot of guys offer.”

As airport amenities go, free Mardi Gras beads are a nice touch. Especially because the airport buys recycled beads that have been cleaned and bundled by employees from a local charitable organization.

Nikki Giovanni at Reagan Washington National Airport

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If you’re passing through Reagan Washington National Airport on Monday morning, February 27, 2012, around 10 a.m. then make your way to the historic lobby of Terminal A for a poetry slam.

The event is part of the airport’s Black History Month celebration and the local high school students competing will be judged by  a panel that includes Nikki Giovanni, a well-known poet and a New York Times Bestsellers List author; Amy Young, poet laureate from Alexandria, Va.; and Vincent Young, published author, artist and Airports Authority employee.

Following the Poetry Slam, Nikki Giovanni will read selections from her works and answer questions from the audience. A real treat!

“Mini Man” honors Burning Man at Reno-Tahoe airport

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Burning Man, a wild week-long party that organizers say is “dedicated to community, art, self-expression and self-reliance,” kicked off today in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert.

About 15,000 of the 50,000 “Burners” will arrive via the Reno-Tahoe International Airport, which is rolling out a welcome mat that includes “Mini Man,” (above) – an 8-foot tall replica of the 40 foot Burning Man.

During peak arrival times, volunteers will staff a welcome area at the entrance to Baggage Claim and through October 15 the airport’s Connector Collections Gallery is hosting an exhibit titled Burning Man: Baker Beach to Black Rock Desert and Beyond, that tells the history of Burning Man through art and artifacts.

Tunes for travelers: Irish Festival at JFK

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JetBlue is putting on an Irish heritage festival in the post-security Marketplace area at JFK Terminal 5 this week.

On Wednesday (March 16) and Thursday (March 17), JetBlue and its party-partners Aer Lingus and Tourism Ireland promise Irish step-dancing performances, traditional Irish music, complimentary shamrocks and Irish chocolates and “some of Ireland’s great mythological and folklore characters including Fionn Mac Cumhaill, Grainnuaile, Molly Malone, Oscar Wilde, James Joyce, and W.B. Yeats.”

Not sure about the folkfore characters part – but the complimentary chocolates sure sound like fun.

On Thursday Irish Artist Julie Feeney “a dramatic and stylish chamber-pop singer, composer, orchestrator and producer and the winner of the Choice Music Prize for ‘Irish Album of the Year,’” will stop by T5 for a concert.

Samba at Singapore’s Changi Airport

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This sounds like fun:

To celebrate Singapore Airlines’ new direct service from Singapore to Sao Paolo, Brazil, Changi Airport isn’t just having a kick-off party; it’s staging a month-long “Fly to Brazil” carnival, complete with exhibits, attractions and prizes throughout the airport.

The celebration will include booths offering a chance to play Brazilian games, opportunities to get photographed wearing Brazilian party clothes, and regular performances of Brazilian music and dance, with instructors on hand to teach samba and other Brazilian dance moves.

And anyone who spends S$10 in the airport shops and restaurants  will get an entry in a “Fly to Brazil” ticket raffle.

Changi’s “Fly to Brazil” carnival runs through March 27th, in the Departure Hall of Terminal 3 and the Departure Transit Mall of Terminals 2 and 3.