Seventh annual mARTi gras festival to benefit Art on the Edge

Tickets are on sale now for the seventh annual mARTi gras benefit for Art on the Edge from 6:30 p.m. to midnight Feb. 5 at Brix Restaurant, 317 Sherman Ave. in Coeur d’Alene.

Guests at the mARTi gras benefit will enjoy all the traditional festivities of Mardi Gras, from beads to king cake to live jazz.

“We really pride ourselves on how this party follows real Mardi Gras traditions,” said Art on the Edge Director Ali Shute. “We’ve kept those same features and added a few new, exciting events. This will be the best year yet – it’s Art on the Edge’s 10th anniversary and we’re going big.”

The event includes a no-host bar, performances by the Sisters of Selket Bellydancers, dancing to live music by the Pat Coast Band, and prizes, including king and queen of the mARTi gras, best outfit and most spirited reveler.

New this year is a Cajun Cook-Off featuring Cuisine Coeur d’Alene chefs competing for a judge’s award and people’s choice award with their authentic Cajun dishes. The menu includes crab beignet with Creole sauce, crawfish chowder, Cajun seafood gumbo, bayou potato and apple slaw, blackened Ahi tuna with pecan dirty rice, catfish étouffé, jambalaya and bread pudding with rum sauce.

Chefs include Adam Hegsted of Brix Restaurant, Debbie Simel of Cafe Doma, Gabriel Cruz of Cafe Trinity, Frank Ciccone of Cricket’s Steakhouse and Oyster Bar, Eldon Rush of Eldon’s, Kris McIlvenna of Greenbriar Catering and Events, Rick Schultz of North Idaho College’s Culinary Arts program, Christian Schultz of the Moontime and Charyle Callins of the Wine Cellar.

Tickets for the dance and dinner are $30 and space is limited.

Also new this year is the Big Easy Raffle, in which more than 250 prizes will be given away throughout the night, including a home theater system, a custom concrete patio from Hill Concrete, a Davenport Hotel and Spokane Civic Theatre package, a custom jewelry piece from Cheryl Burchell Goldsmith, various pieces from regional artists and a trip to New Orleans for Mardi Gras in 2006. Raffle tickets are $20 and only 500 will be sold.

Tickets are available at St. Vincent de Paul, Brix Restaurant, Capone’s, Coeur d’Alene Cellars Winery or Enoteca in Post Falls or by calling (208) 773-1725.

All proceeds benefit the Art on the Edge, an organization operated through St. Vincent de Paul that offers free art classes to area at-risk youth by using art as a tool for problem solving and goal setting.