Silent Reading Hour in the Burgundy Room invites readers to settle in with a book of their choice and enjoy an hour of uninterrupted reading. Whether you’re diving into a new favorite or revisiting a beloved page, this shared quiet offers a chance to slow down, recharge, and read together—silently.

DJ Brice White takes over the Burgundy Room with a high-energy set designed to keep the room buzzing. Whether you’re dropping in between sessions or staying for the full set, this DJ moment turns the Burgundy Room into a place to unwind and let the festival pulse carry you forward.

Poet, activist and New York Times bestselling author Cleo Wade hosts an intimate, free-flowing conversation with special guests and friends joining her onstage. Together, they’ll reflect on creativity, community, love, justice, and the everyday practices that help us stay connected. This session invites audiences into a space of openness, curiosity, and shared reflection, shaped in the moment by the people in the room.

In The Thing About Falling, Tarriona “Tank” Ball offers a lyrical meditation on vulnerability, growth, and the courage required to begin again. Blending poetry, music, and personal reflection, Ball explores the creative and emotional terrain of falling: into love, into failure, into transformation. In conversation with Stevona Elem-Rogers, Ball reflects on artistry as both self-exploratory and community-building, examining how storytelling can hold space for uncertainty while illuminating strength. Together, they consider the power of voice, the necessity of risk, and the ways creative expression allows us not only to fall, but to rise with greater clarity and purpose.

In For Small Creatures Such As We, Sasha Sagan examines how science can guide us through life’s biggest moments—birth, love, grief, and death—without relying on traditional belief systems. In conversation with Nicole Richie, Sagan reflects on ritual, mortality, and the quiet comfort of understanding our place in the universe. This Burgundy Room session offers a thoughtful, personal exploration of how knowledge and wonder can coexist, and how we shape traditions that feel honest to who we are.

This session will bring together three industry powerhouses — Neal Bodenheimer, Sue Strachan, and Jordan Salcito — to explore the culture, craft, and storytelling behind what we drink. They’ll discuss the role that hospitality plays in shaping a city’s identity, as well as behind-the-bar insights, personal anecdotes, and a spirited look at how beverages create community — one glass at a time.

At the Baker’s Table, acclaimed bakers and storytellers Kelly Jacques (Ayu Bakehouse) and Bronwen Wyatt (Bayou Saint Cake) come together for a conversation about baking as both craft and narrative. Rooted in New Orleans but informed by deeply personal creative journeys, their work reveals how food can carry memory, meaning, and a sense of place. Together, they’ll explore how recipes become stories, how small-batch baking fosters intimacy and community, and how creativity in the kitchen often mirrors larger questions of identity, celebration and care. This conversation invites audiences to think beyond technique—toward baking as an expressive art form that connects people, marks life’s moments, and tells stories worth savoring.

DJ Brice White takes over the Burgundy Room with a high-energy set designed to keep the room buzzing. Whether you’re dropping in between sessions or staying for the full set, this DJ moment turns the Burgundy Room into a place to unwind and let the festival pulse carry you forward.

Rickey Laurentiis (Death of the First Idea) and Bernardo Wade (A Love Tap) explore how poetry can transform, heal and give voice to the complexities of identity, community and self. Moderated by Karisma Price, this session dives into craft, inspiration and the power of verse to confront, celebrate and reshape the world around us.