Photos: Caroling in Jackson Square in the New Orleans French Quarter | Entertainment/Life

Mike Bruce (Santa), Darla Pastorek, right, during the 79th ‘Caroling in Jackson Square’ holiday sing-along in New Orleans, Sunday, Dec. 17, 2023. The Patio Planters of the Vieux Carre sponsored the popular event, providing candles and song books for participants. The non-denominational community celebration began in 1944as a simple gesture to bring Christmas cheer to those in the French Quarter ‘who might not be having much holiday fun,’ according to a 1948 Christmas Eve interview with Parker Harris, president of the Patio Planters. (Staff photo by David Grunfeld, The Times-Picayune | NOLA.com)