January has a reputation as the gloomiest month of the year, and on the Gulf Coast it often lives up to it with gray skies, cold rain and short days after the glow of the holidays. Still, the January 2024 events calendar offered plenty of ways to beat the winter blues, from free chamber music on the Eastern Shore to a Lunar New Year street festival in Pensacola, a Mobile Symphony Orchestra program built around Stravinsky’s “Firebird,” a TOOL concert in Biloxi and an arts and crafts festival at OWA in Foley. This look back revisits those highlights, along with a handful of other events from a month that set the stage for Mardi Gras.
Whether residents were working off holiday indulgences, sticking to New Year’s resolutions or settling back into school and work routines, the coast’s venues offered a steady lineup of indoor and outdoor entertainment. And with Mardi Gras parades set to begin January 26, the month carried a building sense of anticipation.
Eastern Shore Chamber Music Festival Winter Series
The month’s first highlight was the Eastern Shore Chamber Music Festival’s Winter Series, January 11 through 14, at multiple venues in Baldwin County. The festival presents classical chamber concerts along the Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay free of charge, pairing contemporary repertoire with classic works.
Admission to the January 11, 13 and 14 concerts was free. The January 12 event, featuring dessert and sparkling wine at Fairhope Chocolate, carried a $45 ticket.
Free, high-quality chamber music is a rare thing in a region of this size, and the festival has built a loyal following by bringing performances into churches, small venues and community spaces in communities such as Fairhope, Magnolia Springs and Point Clear. For audiences who might never buy a ticket to a formal concert hall, it offers an easy introduction to a centuries-old art form.
Lunar New Year Gallery Night in Pensacola
On January 19, Gallery Night Pensacola celebrated the Lunar New Year on Palafox Street, closed from Garden Street to Main Street for the event. Gallery Night is a nonprofit organization that aims to inspire culture, engagement and the practice of the arts through a monthly event for all ages. Each month has a theme, featured artists and a lineup of local creators.
The January 2024 edition featured live music, local vendors, children’s activities and King Cake tastings, a fitting blend of a Lunar New Year theme with the start of Carnival season on the Gulf Coast.
Palafox Street, the spine of downtown Pensacola, has become one of the most vibrant streetscapes on the coast, and Gallery Night’s monthly takeovers are a big part of why. The free event is a reliable way to experience the city’s arts scene, restaurants and nightlife in one evening.
Mobile Symphony Orchestra Presents “Firebird”
On January 20 and 21, the Mobile Symphony Orchestra performed “Firebird” at the Saenger Theatre in downtown Mobile. The program explored connections among the works of Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky and Duke Ellington, three of the most groundbreaking composers across two centuries.
Stravinsky’s “The Firebird,” a ballet score first performed in Paris in 1910, made the young Russian composer famous and remains one of the most popular works in the orchestral repertoire. Pairing it with Tchaikovsky, whose ballets helped define the Russian tradition Stravinsky inherited, and Ellington, whose orchestral writing brought jazz into the concert hall, made for a thoughtful program that crossed genres as well as eras.
The orchestra serves the community by employing and developing local professional musicians. Its home, the historic Saenger Theatre on Conti Street, opened in the 1920s as a movie palace and has been restored as one of downtown Mobile’s premier performing arts venues.
TOOL at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum
For rock fans willing to make a day trip or weekend of it, TOOL played the Mississippi Coast Coliseum in Biloxi on January 27. The band, formed in 1990, has released five studio albums, won four Grammy Awards and built a reputation for elaborate visual production and intense live performances over a career approaching 35 years.
Since the release of the critically acclaimed “Fear Inoculum” in 2019, TOOL has completed multiple sold-out tours in the United States and Europe. Biloxi, about an hour west of Mobile on Interstate 10, is a frequent destination for Gulf Coast concertgoers thanks to the Coliseum and the city’s casino entertainment venues.
OWA Arts and Crafts Festival
For those who preferred to stay closer to home that day, OWA Parks and Resort in Foley hosted its Arts and Crafts Festival on January 27. The festival showcased local art, live music and handcrafted goods reflecting the region’s culture, and it encouraged visitors to take part in hands-on artistic activities. The family-friendly event was free to attend.
OWA, developed by the Poarch Band of Creek Indians and opened in 2017, has become a year-round venue for festivals and seasonal events in south Baldwin County. Its downtown district of shops and restaurants provides a walkable setting for an arts market, even in the off-season.
Other January 2024 Events
Several other events rounded out the month:
- January 17: Shane Smith and the Saints at Soul Kitchen in Mobile
- January 18: Art of Mixology, Cocktails in Film, at The Hope Farm in Fairhope
- January 19: The 6th Annual King Cake Off at the Mobile Civic Center Expo Hall
- January 20: Bourbon, Bacon and Brews tasting event at O’Riley’s Irish Pub in Pensacola
The King Cake Off, in particular, reflects how completely Carnival shapes January on the Gulf Coast. King cakes, the ring-shaped pastries traditionally decorated in purple, green and gold, appear in bakeries across Mobile and Baldwin County soon after the holidays, and competitions to find the best one have become a seasonal tradition of their own.
By the end of January 2024, the region’s attention had turned fully to Mardi Gras. Mobile, whose Carnival celebration traces back to the early 1700s and is widely considered the oldest in the United States, welcomed the first parades of the season on January 26. For many residents, the arrival of parade season is the real cure for the January blues.
Planning for Future Winters
Many of these events recur, but dates, programs and venues change from year to year. Anyone hoping to attend a future chamber music series, Gallery Night, symphony program or OWA arts festival should check with the organizers for current schedules. And whatever the year, January on the coast calls for a warm jacket, an umbrella and a willingness to get out of the house despite the weather.