GERT TOWN OVERVIEW

Gert Town (a.k.a. Zion City) has long been home to hard working residents, light industry, and one of the city's most prestigious institutions, Xavier University. Xavier University is unique in that it is the only Catholic AND African American college in the united states.

New Orlean's Gert Town district is home to several historical Jazz sites, as well as Gert Town Records, that records New Orleans musicians like Charmaine Neville, New Orleans Klezmer All Stars, and poet Andrei Codrescu.

Mardi Gras Indians

Gert Town is also home to The Golden Star Hunters Mardi Gras Indians. The Big Chief of Gert Town's Golden Star Hunters Mardi Gras Indians is Larry Bannock, a 51-year-old carpenter, welder and handyman. On Mardi Gras morning, Mr. Bannock steps out of his shotgun home in a resplendent, flamboyant turquoise costume complete with a towering headdress, and leads his neighbors through the streets of Gert Town shouting, drumming, singing and dancing.. These Indians march mostly in neighborhoods where the tourists do not go, ride on the hoods of dented Chevrolets instead of floats, and face off on street corners where poverty and violence grip the people most of the rest of the year.