Dirty Linen on Royal Street

Dirty Linen Night is Royal Street’s response to the wildly popular (crowded) White Linen Night that occurs on the first Saturday in August each year. I find Dirty Linen to be more relaxed and less overwhelming. Both events feature art galleries and displays that open in the evening to lure residents and visitors out of their air conditioned homes and hotel rooms with the promise of thought-provoking (and wallet-emptying) pieces of art from local artists. Many galleries offer complimentary wine and snacks. There is a “ticket” that is sold but you don’t need to purchase a ticket to meander in and out of the stores and galleries. The ticket gets you a wristband that is supposed to provide access to the wine and other beverages in the galleries. I was offered glasses of wine so I don’t know how much attention was being paid to the wristband. Dirty Linen is more of a locals event - I ran into two different sets of friends while I was there. Of course it is hot so if you are temperature sensitive this is not the event for you. The premise of the event is to walk from gallery to gallery so you will move a lot. The French Quarter buildings are old and not always the easiest to access, even when owners try to make accommodations. If mobility is a concern this also may not be the event for you. While I’m not in the tax bracket to be able to afford much of the artwork I saw during Dirty Linen, there were some places offering reasonably priced smaller prints and pieces of art to purchase. I found a print I plan to put in my office for $35. This event is well attended but it doesn’t fill the entire street with wall-to-wall humans in the way that some large French Quarter events do. So my social battery was able to manage pretty well and while it was busy and loud, it did not reach the point of overwhelming for me.