More Photos from Poe’s Birthday Bash

Poe’s 203rd Birthday Bash may be over, but we’ve been getting lots of fun photos from various people on our flickr group.

Here are a few samples (click the photos for a closer look):

Belly dancers Lucretia and Lavinia performing the “Dance of the Conqueror Worm” – Photo by Silly Human Tricks

Belly dancer The Muse – Photo by Silly Human Tricks

If you’re wondering what belly dancing has to do with Poe or his birthday … well, Poe wrote stories like “The Cask of Amontillado” that are set at carnival time and belly dance seemed to fit nicely there. Also, all of our dances had Victorian/gothic themes of which we are certain Poe would approve – one was even based on his poem “The Conqueror Worm.” Moreover, the birthday bash marked the opening of our special exhibition of James Carling’s illustrations for “The Raven” and as Carling himself was a sideshow/vaudeville performer, it seemed appropriate. Plus, it was just too fun to pass up and what’s a party without fun, right?

Sword dance by Madame Onça – Photo by Silly Human Tricks

We were also fortunate to have six local poets come and do readings in honor of Edgar for his birthday festivities at the museum. Each poet read a poem by Poe and one of their own works.

Top row: Cynthia Grier Lotze and Joanna S. Lee Middle row: Melissa C. Johnson and Tarfia Faizullah Bottom row: Benjamin Dombrowski and Laura Davenport – Photos by Melanie Armstrong.

Poe fans young and old came out to enjoy the fun which lasted from 10am to midnight. Here we see some VERY young Poe fans in training with their moms enjoying entertainment by Sadira Silverhare and DragonSong. Photo by Bonnie Chanteuse.

More little Poe fans waiting for trolley rides and soaking up the atmosphere at the Birthday Bash. Photos by Melanie Armstrong.

Various performers enjoying the festivities. Photo by Melanie Armstrong.

Visitors were also treated to fun and diverse musical performances by Aeon Yaweh, DragonSong and Machine Gun Mustache. People enjoyed each band’s sets.

We were even graced by the presence of the Birthday Boy, Poe himself as well as by a visit from his mother, Eliza (ably portrayed by wonderful living history performers.)

Eliza Poe and her son Edgar in the Poe Shrine – Photo by Melanie Armstrong.

These and many other photos can be found and shared via the Poe Museum’s own flickr group. If you have photos you’d like to share, you can share them with us on the flickr group or email them to melanie@poemuseum.org.

You can also check out a few videos from the day’s festivities on the Poe Museum’s YouTube channel.

So make sure you come out to our exciting 90th anniversary events this year and take lots of photos of the fun you have! Keep an eye on our Events Page and our Facebook page for information about our 2012 events.