be a rootin', tootin' rave-up as close to life in New Orleans' most famous street as it's possible to get this side of an air fare.

And for the lucky winners, there will even be the air fare! The Bermuda National Trust has made the Louisiana hot spot the focus of its winter fund-raiser, and is going all out to make it a night to remember.

Entitled Bourbon Street and All That Jazz, the event will take place in the car park area of Number One shed, which will be transformed into a Bourbon Street environment by some of Hamilton's leading window designers.

The Corporation of Hamilton is lending its colourful Christmas lights as part of the interior decoration.

Major features will include a replica park, various food and drink areas, a gambling casino, a silent auction and a piano bar.

The idea is for guests to stroll between the various attractions, picking and choosing their food, and retiring to the replica park to eat it.

Creole and Cajun cuisine, prepared by various chefs from food donated by the MarketPlace, will be another highlight of the evening. The menu will include red bean soup with garlic bread and corn muffins, jambalaya, salad, muffelata sandwiches, and hambiscuits.

Curious Cook Mr. Edward Bottone is creating a special New Orleans pizza recipe for the occa sion, and fresh catfish will be flown in and prepared on site.

Toute Suite, the dessert "station,'' will offer pies, cheesecake, and a variety of ice creams and toppings.

Bars will supply guests with a variety of drinks including beer, wine and mint juleps, provided by Cosmopolitan Liquors, J.E. Lightbourn, Gosling Brothers, and Frith's Liquors.

Barritt's will serve iced tea, still and sparkling waters.

The "coffee house'' will serve New Orleans-style after-dinner coffees which guests can mix and match with liqueurs from the "annex'' next door.

Rocky Mountain Candy will make pralines on site.

Hernando's Hideaway will offer gambling Bermuda style -- which means no money will be won, just prizes.

A Silent Auction will offer bidders a host of classy items, ranging from dinner and skittles at HMS Malabar, to tennis lessons, Birdsey and Ann Proctor watercolours, waterskiing with a champagne lunch, a New Orleans dinner in Tucker's Town, and a cocktail cruise on Harrington Sound.

Entertainment will include music by the Somers Isles Jazz Band and other jazz musicians, jugglers and magicians. There will be a piano bar. The parade will include a New Orleans-style funeral complete with "surprise corpse.'' Delta Air Lines is donating several airline tickets as prizes. The door prize will be two tickets to New Orleans with a three-night hotel stay, while gamblers will have a chance to win two tickets to Las Vegas plus a three-night hotel stay. The winning bidder at the Silent Auction will receive a first class trip for two to New York, two nights in the Fitzpatrick Manhattan Hotel on Lexington Avenue, and two tickets to Otello at the Metropolitan Opera -- all this over the Easter weekend.

Dress for the occasion is "Jazzy''. While some guests are expected to turn up in flapper-era (1920s) dresses and pin stripe suits, others are believed to be planning Mardi Gras costumes.

Invitations have gone out to all 3000 Trust members, but anyone wishing to obtain a ticket can do so at the National Trust headquarters in Paget.

In an effort to attract a broader cross-section of guests, the Trust has halved the usual ticket price of its winter fund-raiser to $75 -- which includes all food, drink and general entertainment.

"We are doing this because we want all members and friends of the Trust to come to what has become our winter fund-raiser,'' volunteer co-ordinator of fund-raiser events, Mrs. Carole Bailey, explained.

She also said that the 23-strong committee responsible for organising the February 25 event represented a broad cross-section of the community.

PLANNING DEPARTMENT, NATIONAL TRUST STYLE! -- Members of the committee responsible for organising Bourbon Street and All That Jazz map out arrangements for the Trust's big winter fund-raiser on February 25. They are (front row, left to right) Davida Simons and Carole Bailey; (back row, left to right) Deborah Gillett, Vanessa Shorto, Jane West and Rosalind Hubbard.