The Mardi Gras Costume Ball & Contest, an annual fundraiser of the Hot Springs Jazz Society (HSJS), will be held from 6-11 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 29, at The Hotel Hot Springs & Spa.
The evening will offer music, dancing and fun. The entertainment will include the Dixieland group Spa City Stompers and the Delta Brass Express, a dance band that blends blues, classic rock and a bit of jazz.
The Mardi Gras Costume Ball & Contest is packed with as much entertainment and amusement as can be mustered. A raffle includes a singularly extraordinary piece of fine jewelry from Lara’s Jewelry and Design, $20 restaurant grab bags guaranteeing certificates worth $30 or more to fine area restaurants, and a costume contest with winners sharing a cash prize.
Past costume contest winners have amazed the audience with Monty Python’s Knight and Coconut Clapper Sidekick, Voodoo Witch Doctor & Doll, Death Day Masks and an abundance of authentic Mardi Gras style costumes. So much eye candy – there’s never a loss of something to enjoy at the Mardi Gras Costume Ball & Contest.
This year’s queen and king are Peggy and John Holt, who arrived in Hot Springs in 2010 after “falling in love with the friendly people and small-town atmosphere.” They quickly became prominent members of the community through their support of Jackson House, Women’s Welcome Club, Project Hope Food Bank, the local Zeta Chi Sorority chapter, where John is often a ‘Jailbird’ raising money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and St. John Catholic Church, where Peggy is President of the Council of Women.
Tickets are available at HSJazzSociety.org, by calling 501-627-2425 or by emailing HSJazzSociety@gmail.com. Tables can be reserved for parties of 10 for $600 to receive preferred seating. Single tickets are $60 per person. Proceeds from the Mardi Gras Costume Ball & Contest support the HSJS’s scholarship program for high school music students, free concerts at the Garland County Library, and keep the annual outdoor concert, JazzFest Block Party, free and accessible to all.
The Hot Springs Jazz Society is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit volunteer organization dedicated to perpetuating, promoting and preserving Jazz Music, an original American art form. The Jazz Society is funded in part by the Arkansas Arts Council, Hot Springs Advertising and Promotion Commission and Elisabeth Wagner Foundation along with numerous other corporate and private sponsors.
