Lafcadio Fest 2026
About Lafcadio Fest
Join us at the New Orleans Jazz Museum for Lafcadio Fest 2026, a celebration of the life and legacy of New Orleans author Lafcadio Hearn, presented and produced by the Japan Society of New Orleans. Festivities include: a panel of scholars offering insights on Lafcadio's writings from New Orleans, the Caribbean, and Japan; a keynote from Hearn biographer Steve Kemme; talks by Krewe of Lafcadio founder John Kelly and Krewe of Rex float designer Caroline Thomas; community members' reflections on the ongoing connections between New Orleans and its sister city Matsue, Japan; food by Greta's Sushi; virtual "visits" from the Mayor of Matsue and Hearn's great-grandson; and musical surprises to come! Entry to the event is free and open to the public.
Lafcadio Fest 2026 Info
Where: New Orleans Jazz Museum - 400 Esplanade Ave, New Orleans, LA 70116
When: Saturday, June 20th from 10:30 AM to 4:30 PM
You can follow us on Instagram @lafcadiofest. To get involved with Lafcadio Fest, for media inquiries, or to learn more about Japan Society of New Orleans, contact us at lafcadiofest@gmail.com.
Lafcadio Fest 2026 Schedule
Saturday, June 20th
10:30 AM — Introductory Remarks / Lafcadio Hearn 101
11:00 AM - Scholars' Panel
- Cheyenne Symonette – Michigan State University
“Wood Pulp and Witchcraft: Hearn’s Laveau Obituaries and the Decadent Femme Fatale”
- Bill Hardwig – University of Tennessee
“Muse of the Odd: Lafcadio Hearn’s Social Media Posts”
- Peter A.A. Bailey – University of the Bahamas
“The Convent, the Harem, and Harper’s Bazaar: Lafcadio Hearn’s Gendered and Racialized Narratives of Creole Decadence”
- Justin Rogers – Tarleton State University
“Art and the Past in Lafcadio Hearn’s Supernatural Retellings”
12:15 - 1:15 PM — Lunch (Pop-up: Greta's Sushi)
1:15 PM - Keynote: Steve Kemme
Hearn biographer, author of The Outsider: The Life and Work of Lafcadio Hearn: The Man Who Introduced Voodoo, Creole Cooking, and
Japanese Ghosts to the World (Tuttle, 2023)
2:30-2:45 PM — Break
2:45 PM — Community Panel, moderated by Doug Tassin of the Krewe of Japan Podcast
- Samantha Perez (co-editor of Cross-Cultural Encounters in Early Modern Japan and Matsue-New Orleans exchange participant)
- Lauren Bertolino (Matsue-New Orleans exchange participant, designer of Japan Culture Series for the Orleans and Jefferson Parish libraries)
- Caroline Thomas (designer of the Krewe of Rex Mardi Gras floats for the 2024 parade theme "The Two Worlds of Lafcadio Hearn")
- John Kelly, founder of the Krewe of Lafadio
3:45 PM - Virtual visits from Mayor Akihito Uesada of Matsue, Japan, Shoko Koizumi, and Lafcadio Hearn's Great-Grandson Bon Koizumi (Director of the Lafcadio Hearn Memorial Museum)
4:00 PM - Sake toast for Hearn's upcoming 176th birthday
Post-4 PM - Musical performance — Details to come!