C5 - plan your weekend

**NOTE:  events put on primarily by other lovely people, & assisted by the C5 Cabal are listed in the grey text.

Thursday, April 1st:

PRE-CONVERGENCE DANCE NIGHT
@ The Crystal, 1135 Decatur Street, French Quarter

Not technically an official night o' C5, but many attendees chose to start things off by attending New Orleans' regular goth/industrial club, The Crystal.  The club brought in a variety of special DJs spinning all weekend long, as well as the regulars we locals know and <ha> love. Drinking, dancing, socializing and more than occasional bawdiness lasted til sunup and started off C5 with the attitude to predominate for many that weekend: drunkeness! :)

Friday, April 2nd:

MEET & GREET
Noon till 5pm @ the Bienville House Hotel, various public spaces

First stop for many of the C5 attendees was the ground floor of the Bienville House for our VERY crowded Meet and Greet. Hundreds of goths descended upon the Bienville House public areas to pick up tickets, laminates, programs, and other free stuff while...erm meeting & greeting, hanging around, eying the pool suspiciously, munching free hotel apples, and deciding what to do first.

A.G.F. GIFTBASKET SWAP
Vieux Carre' Salon @ the Bienville House Hotel
organizer: Sande
A giftbasket swap organized on the newsgroup alt.gothic.fashion.

GOTH SWAP!
Vieux Carre' Salon @ the Bienville House Hotel
organizer: Daednu

Daednu once again this year organized and ran the goth swap, which originated on the newsgroup alt.gothic.fashion but was open to all who pre-registered. Attendance was extremely good for this event that affords thrifty goths to exchange things they don't want for things that they do. It looks to be becoming a Convergence tradition.

LOCAL BAND NIGHT
@ Jimmy's Music Club, 8200 Willow Street, Uptown

Led by our Mistress of Ceremonies Caitlin R. Kiernan (author of SILK and THE DREAMING), bands New Dawn Fades, Falling Janus, cut.rate.box, and Ex-Voto provided the soundtrack for the first night of Convergence festivities.  Each band played a short set of approximately half an hour to forty minutes, interspersed liberally with music courtesy of DJ Carlos St. Germain and DJ Nihil.


Saturday, April 3rd:

THE CONVERGENCE BAZAAR
@ the Bienville House Hotel

Utilizing most of the public areas of the Bienville House, around 25 different vendors did a lively business all afternoon to C5 attendees as well as the local goth population. This was the first year in which vending took place as a separate event from the nighttime club events, and the general consesus has been that this was A Good Thing.

C5 ART SHOW
concurrent with the Convergence Bazaar @ the Bienville House Hotel
organizers: Daniel McKernan and Blu Ashton

With over a dozen artists participating, the C5 Art Show gave us a chance to display just a little of the talent to be found in our subculture. Works in a variety of form and media were on display in the public areas of the Bienville House during the C5 Vendors Bazaar.  All Convergence goers were eligible to participate in the silly art contest - a thoroughly non-serious ballot to award the Art Show participants with prizes such as "The Industrial Goth Award for best use of a medium" and "The Ethereal Award for the piece most heavenly".  Award certificates were awarded to the winning artists at sunday night's Rougaroux's Ball.


ELDERGOTH COCKTAIL HOUR
5 - 7pm in the courtyard @ the Bienville House Hotel

Are you older than the hills? Were you heartbroken when Bauhaus first broke up? Do you grumble about when you were a kid you could only find black nailpolish at Halloween (and now even *fashion models* wear the stuff)? If you were 26 years of age or older (or just *feel* that old!), you were invited to the ElderGoth Cocktail Hour around the Bienville House pool.  The very crowded event featured acash bar, free silly party favours, and goofy "You know you're an old goth when..." games. Our lovely hostess was alt.gothic.fashion FAQ maintainer Trystan L. Bass, who just turned 30 in 1999.

MAIN BAND NIGHT
@ The House of Blues, 225 Decatur Street, French Quarter

Our headlining band night at the incomparable House of Blues.  A lovely space, but I think we all could have used more chairs!  Hours of musical pleasure were provided by The Cruxshadows, Mentallo & The Fixer, and the headliners Clan of Xymox.  Mistress of Ceremonies Caitlin R. Kiernan was along for the ride once again, and the Helfyre Club took over djing responsibilities after the bands for dancing into the wee hours of the morning.

Sunday, April 4th:

AUTHORS SYMPOSIUM
in the Vieux Carre' Salon @ the Bienville House Hotel

Held in the main meeting room at the Bienville House, authors POPPY Z. BRITE (Lost Souls, Drawing Blood, Exquisite Corpse, etc..), CAITLIN R. KIERNAN (Silk and The Dreaming), and KATHERINE RAMSLAND (Piercing The Darkness, and Anne Rice's biographer) gave readings, answered questions from the audience, and signed available copies of their works from 2-5 p.m.

BUNNICULA'S HUNT
in the courtyard @ the Bienville House hotel
organizers: November and Artum

A gothic egghunt! Hey, it *was* easter after all. Participants hunted for an egg filled with all sorts of goodies, and had a chance to win a special prize.

PRE-BALL PHOTO BOOTH
in the Vieux Carre' Salon @ the Bienville House Hotel
organizer: Monica Mitchell

Want a memento of your time misspent at Convergence? A reminder of your fancy Rougaroux's Ball duds? Just wanna photo of yourself taken by someone who isn't drunk and wielding a funsaver? :-)  Photographer, Convergence goer, and goth about town Monica Mitchell provided formal goffic portraits from 6 - 8 p.m. at the Bienville House, and was wildly popular with many of the beautifully dressed attendees.

THE ROUGAROUX'S BALL
@ The House of Blues, 225 Decatur street, french quarter

We chose to say goodbye to all our net.goth visitors and C5 in grand style, with a fancy dress Bal Masque in the New Orleans tradition.  Excellent music was provided by DJs Sexbat, Lady Bathory, and Fross, while our Mistress of Ceremonies Caitlin R. Kiernan was back again to lead the costume contest, which featured everyone from proper victorian ladies to Bobba Fett & Edward Scissorhands.

for further information on the musicians and DJs featured at Convergence 5, please visit the bands & DJs page