Thirty-eight years ago, a wonderful supporter
of the Shreveport Opera, Delton Harrison,
decided on a whim to check out an advertised
Christmas sale in a New York City hotel.
What he found inspired him. The hotel had
been transformed into a series of little shops
sponsored by various stores in New York City.
Harrison knew that the idea was too good to pass
up and presented it to the Shreveport Opera as a
way to raise money. What he didn’t know
was that he along with our first chairman,
Dorsey Bronson, were writing the first chapter
of “Les Boutiques de Noel,” or the little shops
of Christmas. This event has been held
every year but one and continues to grow each
year.
The event began rather modestly in 1974 with
just a mere 20 exhibitors but has since evolved
into a market of over 100 shops from a
nine-state area. It is well attended by
over 10,000 shoppers and it has now become
recognized as one of the single largest
fund-raising events put on by an Opera Guild.
All proceeds from Les Boutiques de Noel are
dedicated directly to the Shreveport Opera.
Also, the Shreveport Opera Express (SOX), a
touring group of the Shreveport Opera, would not
be able to conduct each year nearly 100
educational performance for over 50,000 school
children in Bossier, Caddo, DeSoto and Webster
Parishes. Many of these schools in these
Parishes have little or no music programs and
the Shreveport Opera Express will be their rare
taste of a live musical performance.
Les Boutiques de Noel has become the
signature event that signals the start of the
Holiday shopping season throughout the ArkLaTex.
This holiday extravaganza continues to attract
generous supports, unique merchants and thousand
of enthusiastic shoppers. Throughout the
years, dedicated Opera Guild volunteers have
spent countless hours planning, organizing, and
working out every detail of the market.
This year is no exception!
Please join us for a weekend of shopping Thursday, November
15th through Saturday, November 17th!
