NEWS RELEASE

October 11, 2007

Media Contact:
Erin Pyles, Communications Coordinator
Shreveport-Bossier Convention & Tourist Bureau
318-222-9391 or epyles@sbctb.org

Les Boutique de Noel provides Christmas shopping bonanza
for thousands

Shreveport-Bossier City, LA – Les Boutique de Noel, the little shops of Christmas, contains over 100 different shops with wares and gifts that any holiday shopper would find amazing.

This year the event will be held in the Bossier Civic Center on November 15-17. Prior to the shopping, on November 14th there will be a gala event with food, drinks and entertainment by the Ricky Diaz Orchestra from Houston, Texas. This year the center will be transformed into a world of giant candy canes and gingerbread men as Les Boutique de Noel takes on the theme of “Sugar and Spice.”

Exhibitors come from a nine-state area. Shoppers, however, come from all over. This event has been held every year but one and continues to grow. Les Boutique de Noel organizers have seen more than 10,000 visitors attend in just one weekend.

“The Shreveport Opera Express (SOX), a touring group of the Shreveport Opera, would not be able to conduct nearly 100 educational performances each year if it weren’t for Les Boutique,” says Jennifer Beason, the 2007 chair of Les Boutique de Noel. “Of the 50,000 school children we visit, many of them have little or no music programs at school and the Shreveport Opera Express will be their rare taste of a live musical performance.”

Les Boutique de Noel began in 1974 with only 20 exhibitors as a way to raise money for the Shreveport Opera. Today, it is seen as one of the single largest fundraising events put on by an opera guild.

For more information on this holiday event, contact Erin Pyles, communications coordinator for the Shreveport-Bossier Convention and Tourist Bureau at epyles@sbctb.org or 318-222-9391 ext. 117.