{"id":161333,"date":"2026-02-19T16:16:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T16:16:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/161333\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T16:16:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T16:16:10","slug":"let-the-good-times-roll-a-night-in-the-big-easy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/161333\/","title":{"rendered":"Let the good times roll: A Night in the Big Easy"},"content":{"rendered":"

By LOIS KINDLE<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve never been to New Orleans\u2014or you can\u2019t wait to go back\u2014the Firehouse Cultural Center is bringing the magic of Mardi Gras to Ruskin. Come celebrate A Night in The Big Easy on March 21 for three hours of steamy jazz, an all you can eat raw bar with oysters and shrimp, jambalaya, gumbo, red beans and rice, and made to order beignets, dusted in powdered sugar. Wine, beer and other beverages are included, with a cash bar mixing Hurricanes and other festive cocktails.<\/p>\n

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Rick Carr, of Carr\u2019s Custom Catering, serves guests from his all-you-can-eat raw bar at the A Night in the Big Easy in 2024. He\u2019ll be catering this year\u2019s fundraiser, as well.<\/p>\n

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A Night in the Big Easy always sells out, so if you\u2019re planning on joining the fun celebration of all things New Orleans, RSVP quickly. Visit https:\/\/firehouseculturalcenter.org\/events\/fundraiser-for-scholarships\/ or call 813-645-7651.<\/p>\n

The party\/fundraiser begins at 6 p.m. at 101 First St. NE. All proceeds benefit the Firehouse Cultural Center Scholarship Fund, which helps students of all ages in need participate in workshops, classes, summer camps and no-fee programming, like Opera Tampa, Plant Museum performances and select special lecture series. Despite setbacks due to Hurricanes Helene and Milton in 2025, the fund covered nearly $11,000 in summer camp scholarships.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a fun evening filled with great food, live music and happy people,\u201d said Beth Stein, operations and programming director. \u201cIt\u2019s a remarkable value \u2013 and it supports a truly worthy cause.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Jennifer China, Hillsborough College CEO, and Chris Bredbenner, executive director of the Firehouse Cultural Center, share a light moment during A Night in the Big Easy in 2024.<\/p>\n

The Jazz Phools, a wildly popular, Tampa Bay-based six-piece band, returns to bring alive the sounds of New Orleans, Dixieland and Zydeco. Get ready to tap your toes and hit the dance floor when these guys are on stage.<\/p>\n

A Night in the Big Easy will also feature a small, live auction and \u201cGifts of the Heart\u201d video. Carr\u2019s Custom Catering is preparing the food.<\/p>\n

There are three seating options for 150 guests: the main theater room, classroom and covered outdoor patio.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s event features 21 tables in the theater with a maximum of four guests per table and a minimum reservation of one table. The cost is $400.<\/p>\n

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BETH STEIN PHOTOS
The Jazz Phools, the versatile,Tampa Bay-based six-piece band, returns March 21 to bring alive the sounds of New Orleans, Dixieland and Zydeco during A Night in the Big Easy at the Firehouse Cultural Center.<\/p>\n

Tables of four will also be available in the classroom, where the band will be streamed for $300. And individual, communal seating on the patio is offered for $75.<\/p>\n

Seating is filling up fast, so make your reservation soon. To order tickets, payable via credit card, debit card or PayPal, visit https:\/\/firehouseculturalcenter.org\/events\/fundraiser-for-scholarships<\/a>\/ or call 813-645-7651.<\/p>\n

Sponsorships are available and feature various levels of perks. They range in price from $300 to $1,500.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are pleased to invite you to join us for A Night in the Big Easy,\u201d said Chris Bredbenner, executive director. \u201cPlease join us Saturday evening, March 21, for our New Orleans-style celebration. Your Firehouse Cultural Center has an incredible evening planned, and we hope to see you here.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By LOIS KINDLE If you\u2019ve never been to New Orleans\u2014or you can\u2019t wait to go back\u2014the Firehouse Cultural…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":161334,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":["post-161333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161333","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=161333"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161333\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/161334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=161333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=161333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=161333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}