cheers!
After Party Band performs on stage in The Cannery’s Bienville Ballroom. Marquee Letters from Alpha-Lit New Orleans light up the dance floor.
TO TEN YEARS
The Cannery in MidCiTy new Orleans CelebraTes 10 years Of fabulOus evenTs WRITTEN + PHOTOGRAPHED BY: Jessica Burke
This year marks a special anniversary for New Orleans venue, The Cannery. In June of 2012, this MidCity venue opened its doors and has been hosting events, large and small ever since. To celebrate their 10th anniversary milestone, The Cannery hosted a fabulous party in July with hundreds of past clients, event industry partners as well as family and friends in attendance. For this event, The Cannery’s Director of Sales and original visionary, Kellie Levy, wanted to transform the spaces that everyone is used to and showcase the possibilities for event design at the venue. The Cannery’s 12,000 square feet includes five distinct spaces, all of which Levy designed to have a different feel for the party. “I wanted to offer guests an experience as they moved throughout the different spaces,” says Levy. “Design is my passion. I love to research and see what is the most current trend. In this industry, the trends are constantly changing and you have to always be thinking outside the box and push the limits.” THE HISTORY The Cannery was built between 1965-1970 as a warehouse for the American Can Company until its closure in 1988. In 1997, Pel Hughes Companies, the parent company of The Cannery, purchased the warehouse as a location for their print and direct marketing company and in 2006 after Katrina devastated New Orleans, opened Floor de Lis in the space to help rebuild the city and employ family that was no longer employed at the family printing company after the hurricane.
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It was also in the post-Katrina tragedy and devastation that another business, Toulouse Gourmet Catering was born. “While we were evacuated, we started thinking about how we could come back and help our community rebuild,” shares Levy. “With the faith of the Hughes and Levy families, we opened a catering business to help feed the people of New Orleans as they rebuilt their lives.” What started with a BBQ pit in the back has grown to a successful gourmet catering company that survived numerous tragedies including the 2008 crash and the 2020 pandemic that shuttered so many businesses. “Toulouse Gourmet now serves as not only the in-house caterer for The Cannery, but also caters weddings and events across the New Orleans Metro Area,” says Levy. “Our story has been one of opportunity out of tragedy.” With Toulouse Gourmet growing, Vic Hughes, owner of Pel Hughes Companies, approached Levy with an idea. “My Uncle Vic came to me and said, ‘I may be crazy, but what if we create an event space in this building.’”, referring to the space that is now The Cannery,” shares Levy. “I was scared and nervous, but also honored that he believed in me to create a space that people would want to come to.” And create it she did! “I started with the bespoke lighting of New Orleans designer Julie Neill as my grounding point for The Cannery’s design,” shares Levy. “I was working with a cinderblock building in an industrial area and knew I needed to create a design that was not over the top in one direction to one type of taste.” Levy chose neutral colors and timeless details that would allow The Cannery to be elegant on its own with no extra effort, but also a “blank canvas” that would allow clients to personalize the space to their taste if they desire, as have thousands of clients over the years.