New Orleans turned pink and sequined on Friday as the city marked its first official Dolly Day, a citywide celebration honoring Dolly Parton that stretched from a French Quarter tribute lunch to an evening parade ending at the New Orleans Jazz Museum. Locals dressed the part in blond wigs and cowboy boots, while a St. Charles Avenue skeleton house drew crowds for its towering, eight-foot Dolly Parton installation.
The city designated September 25 as Dolly Day, according to WVUE, a nod that also references Parton's film and anthem 9 to 5. The day's events were designed to raise funds for Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, a nonprofit dedicated to early childhood literacy, and the celebration doubled as both party and fundraiser across several neighborhoods.
A Parade Built Around Community and Literacy
The centerpiece was the Celebration of Life Parade, organized by the Krewe of Dolly, which serves as the local program partner for the Imagination Library. Lineup began at 4 p.m. at Louis Armstrong Park, with the parade rolling at 5 p.m. toward the New Orleans Jazz Museum. Organizer Sarah Post predicted thousands would turn out for the celebration, and the Krewe of Dolly planned to hand fans and handkerchiefs to the first 1,000 attendees.
The Krewe of Dolly has enrolled 4,000 New Orleans children in the Imagination Library, which provides one free book each month to enrolled children from birth through age five. Maegen Vincent, tied to the celebration's organizing, said there's just so much shared love between Dolly and our city, capturing the spirit behind the day's fundraising push.
An Eight-Foot Tribute on St. Charles Avenue
Among the day's most talked-about attractions was a skeleton house on St. Charles Avenue featuring an eight-foot Dolly Parton installation. Louellen Aiden Berger, who created the display, said she initially hesitated to feature Parton after the singer's death, but ultimately made the installation eight feet tall to show community love.
Down in the French Quarter, Arnaud's Restaurant hosted a sold-out tribute lunch benefiting the Imagination Library, with 300 reservations booked for the meal. Archie Casbarian, connected to the restaurant, said Dolly fans would be running around Arnaud's and the French Quarter throughout the day, underscoring how the celebration spilled well beyond a single parade route.
Retail and Nightlife Join the Fundraising Push
Local boutique Fleurty Girl sold commemorative T-shirts benefiting the Imagination Library, donating 100 percent of proceeds to the literacy foundation. Lauren Haydel reported that Fleurty Girl sales had generated $50,000 so far, adding another revenue stream to the day's literacy-focused fundraising.
The celebration continued into the night with two official after-parties. Blue Nile at 532 Frenchmen St. opened its doors at 6 p.m., with live music beginning at 6:30 p.m. Meanwhile, the Hi-Ho Lounge at 2239 St. Claude Ave. hosted Dolly Day After Dark starting at 8 p.m., featuring a costume contest at 9 p.m. followed by live music, with a suggested $10 to $20 donation to the Imagination Library at the door.
A National Program With Deep Local Roots
Dolly Parton's Imagination Library launched in 1995 to benefit children in her home county in East Tennessee, according to Dolly Parton's Imagination Library. Today the program spans five countries and gifts millions of free books each month, funded by Parton and local community partners in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and the Republic of Ireland, per the organization's donation page.
The program has given away more than 200 million books since it began in 1995, according to the Lewiston Tribune, and it now provides free books to millions of children annually. Enrollment can run deep in individual states — Washington's Imagination Library programs currently count 85,000 enrolled children, down from a peak of between 120,000 and 130,000, the same report notes.
The program's future was also a point of reassurance for families following Parton's death. A spokesperson for the Dollywood Company confirmed to Nexstar that the Imagination Library will continue sending books to eligible children in Parton's absence, according to WGN Radio. Families who sign up receive a free, high-quality, age-appropriate book mailed to them every month, the outlet reports — the same promise that drove New Orleans families to enroll their children through the Krewe of Dolly ahead of this week's celebration.
