More than 2,000 guests, you say? Then it must be the Audubon Aquarium Scales & Ales benefit!
Held on Oct. 4 at the Audubon Aquarium and Insectarium, this party is a favorite for young New Orleanians to show their support while savoring bites from more than 20 New Orleans restaurants and dancing the night away. This year, Flow Tribe provided the songs while NOLA Gold Ruby and the Sirens of New Orleans mixed and mingled.
Attendees could also sip on craft cocktails or beer: Abita Brewing Company beer selections included AndyGator, Abita Amber, Purple Haze and Beeracuda, while specialty cocktails from The Sazerac Company were the Marga-Ray-Ta featuring Corazon Tequila, Prickly Stick Old Fashioned with Sazerac Rye and Wheatley Ocean featuring Wheatley Vodka.
This year’s event included celebrating the opening of Audubon Aquarium’s new exhibit: Deep Dive into the Gulf, which spotlights this area’s rich aquatic diversity, as well as the ongoing Mesophotic and Deep Benthic Communities restoration projects after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010. This new exhibit was made possible through a grant from the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation.
The event co-chairs — or the playfully called “Mer-Krewe Committee”— included Evie Bories, Laura Butcher, Kenny Lopez, Malik Mingo, Karen Phan, Scot Pilie, Nicole Caridad Ralston and Dr. Alisha Reed.
Fun Fact: The Audubon Experience Raffle included packages from Audubon Nature Institute, Abita Brewing, Common House NOLA and Caesars New Orleans, and a Mignon Faget Gift Grab.
