Preserving the Party: The Legacy of Halloween New Orleans

Williams Research Center, 410 Chartres Street Registration opens September 21 Free admission, registration required “Halloween New Orleans was—and still is—a fully volunteer-run organization fundraising for Project Lazarus. . . They captured the shows, the elaborate costume parades, and most importantly, the spirit of those who were there.” Join the Historic New Orleans Collection (HNOC) and the LGBT+ Archives Project of LouisianaOpens in new tab for an evening celebrating 40 years of the Halloween New Orleans costume party. HNOC recently acquired video footage from these legendary parties and digitized them, making them available to the public on our online catalog. These recordings first documented the annual event during an extraordinary period in New Orleans’s LGBT+ history, at the height of the AIDS epidemic. Halloween New Orleans has always been a place where community resilience and creativity flourished in the face of unimaginable loss. The program will feature clips from the video archive followed by a conversation with longtime former event chair Arthur Roger and Ian Bicko, executive director of Project Lazarus. Attendees are invited to a brief reception following the event. Halloween costumes are encouraged! Admission is free, but registration is required as space is limited. The Halloween New Orleans organization began as an invitation-only costume party among members of the LGBT+ community in 1983. In 1987, the informal organization adopted a charitable bent, directing their profits to Project Lazarus, which was founded in 1985 to respond to the HIV/AIDS crisis in New Orleans. Today, Project Lazarus is an independent nonprofit organization that serves people living with HIV/AIDS, offering a safe and supportive home for up to 23 residents at a time, with 24/7 access to care. To date, Halloween New Orleans has raised $4.6 million for Project Lazarus. In 2019, HNOC acquired a collection of materials documenting the Halloween New Orleans Lazarus Ball between 1997 and 2010. This donation of 53 items included video and audio recordings of the Lazarus Ball and annual costume party. In 2025, HNOC acquired a second batch of materials spanning 2006–18. It includes six videotapes and three audio recordings. Both acquisitions were facilitated by Arthur Roger, who has long been associated with the Halloween New Orleans organization. The mission of the LGBT+ Archives Project of Louisiana is to promote and encourage the protection and preservation of materials that chronicle the culture and history of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community in Louisiana. Their main purpose is to educate the community on the importance of archiving LGBT+ historical materials and making them available for future generations to access, research, and study. By developing financial resources to assist in the preservation and availability of certain LGBT+ collections, they hope to help promote the proper maintenance and preservation of historical LGBT+ materials and then index, publish, and maintain a current list of these materials and their locations. Ian Bicko is the executive director of Project Lazarus, a New Orleans nonprofit dedicated to providing housing and supportive services for people living with HIV/AIDS who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness. A nationally recognized HIV advocate, Bicko has spent years advancing initiatives that reduce stigma, expand access to care, and strengthen community partnerships. Under his leadership, Project Lazarus has grown its impact through strategic organizational development, fundraising, and program expansion. He is passionate about creating innovative solutions to complex social challenges and believes that compassionate leadership and strong community partnerships are essential to improving lives. Eugene “Guy” LaMothe has been a New Orleans cheerleader since arriving in 1992 and currently serves as board president of the LGBT+ Archives Project of Louisiana. LaMothe’s love of history and zeal for authenticity keep him connected to the Crescent City’s vibrant culture. Equipped with a BA in history (’92) and a master’s from Harvard Divinity School (’97), Guy is an ordained Protestant minister, serving congregations over 20 years. Now, as a licensed tour guide ambassador with a specialty in Creole architecture, LaMothe leads neighborhood walking tours and queer history tours of the French Quarter. In these efforts, he seeks to portray the history, culture, and architectural heritage of New Orleans in ways that build greater understanding, increase civic enthusiasm, and convey current relevance. Arthur Roger is the owner and director of the Arthur Roger Gallery, which opened in 1978 and quickly earned a national reputation as a leading art gallery in New Orleans. Roger has served on numerous boards and received local and national recognition for his philanthropic efforts. For several years he chaired the highly successful organization Halloween New Orlean