There's a remarkable concentration of circus performers, burlesque dancers, freaks, and other living oddities in New Orleans. A new festival aims to bring them all together, plus national acts from places as farflung as San Francisco and Baltimore, for a weekend of shows, workshops, and parties, taking place mostly at the Howlin' Wolf at 907 S. Peters St.

The event begins on Friday night with a lecture from James Taylor (the sideshow historian, not the singer from the Berkshires), followed by a series of shows that take the audience back in time to the era when the carnival was America's premier form of entertainment. Acrobats, burlesque, musicians, aerialists, and belly dancers will grace the stage, or fly far above it, all weekend long. Performers include Bella Blue (recently ranked 16th in a national poll of best burlesque performers today), Ooops the Clown & Mr. Cheeze, Ginger Licious, Dr. Sick and This Stunted Sextet, Chatty the Mime, and many more.

See the full schedule: http://www.snakeoilfestival.com/#!schedule/cb9l.