Mary Staes
Mary Staes is Digital Content Lead for Very Local. She works with our freelancers and crafts content for our social media platforms and website. Before Very Local, she worked with CBS affiliate WWL-TV as a web producer and weekend assignment editor for about 4 years. She has also handled broadcast coverage for 160 Marine Reserve training facilities while she served as an active duty Marine. As a native New Orleanian, she takes being "very local" to heart. She loves being intertwined with the culture and figuring out how there are less than two degrees of separation between us all, whether we're natives or not.
Guide for the ‘Gram: Santa and Rudolph are on a boat!
Every year boat owners take to Lake Pontchartrain with their vessels lit up, celebrating Christmas with a unique parade on the water.
Weekend Picks: Caroling, caroling through the Square
Christmas time is here! There’s lot to celebrate across the city, with boats lit up on Lake Pontchartrain to a holiday parade in New Orleans East.
A king cake subscription service? Yep, and it’s not for the traditionalist
It happens every year; someone in the office doesn’t like the strawberry cream cheese filled cake that you stood in line for hours to bring. We’ve got a solution.
Big Freedia has her own wine, here’s your chance to taste it
The first time people had a chance to get a hold of her sparkling rosé back in April, Ca’Di Freedia, the six cases sold out before the star could even make it to the venue.
Get Brunchfaced: Messina’s brings Reveillon dinner to brunch
Messina’s Runway Cafe makes it a little easier to stomach on diners and their wallets, with an abbreviated B’Reveillon 3-course menu at $35.
Missed LUNA Fête? Cure your FOMO with these stunning photos
This year’s tricentennial celebration went above and beyond, with two different projections on Gallier Hall and more lights a short walk away, at the Piazza d’Italia.
BUKU Music + Arts Project released its schedule; here are our picks
BUKU Music + Arts Project is growing into one of the area’s biggest festivals, and Friday morning it released it’s 2019 lineup.
Chocolate Santa is back! We’ve got where you can catch him for pictures
Generations of kids have pictures with Fred Parker, better known as Chocolate Santa or 7th Ward Santa.
Weekend Picks: Holidays are in full swing!
So, it’s not cold outside, but the city is all lit up with the spirit of Christmas!
Know Your NOLA: Catahoula Hotel: How Locals Can Enjoy This Award-Winning Oasis
The Catahoula Hotel transports you to a place with a bohemian, almost South-American vibe, an island of sorts in the busy mix of downtown. And you don’t have to be a tourist to enjoy it.