Leeds Center for the Arts is about to turn 91 years old, and the downtown theater will host a celebration for the ages.

This year’s “Can Can Cabaret,” an annual fund-raising event for the theater, kicks off Saturday at 7 p.m.

Leeds board member Selina Arnett said this year’s celebration carries a Moulin Rouge-inspired theme, marking the turn-of-the-century French style for art and music.

“This year it’s celebrating art and writers in 1900 France,” she said. “It should be something memorable and something you can’t get anywhere else in Winchester.”

The evening will feature live, period music from the Walnut Street Ramblers and aerial performers led by Alexandra Choumitsky, Arnett said.

Throughout the evening, there will be a gaming room upstairs at the theater where players can win chips to use at the auction later in the evening.

“If you win big, you have more of a chance of winning at the auction later,” she said.

There will also be a bourbon-tasting bar, a cash bar and French-inspired hors d’oeuvres from the Engine House Deli.

“It should be a really fun evening,” Arnett said.

The event is one of the major fundraisers for Leeds, which began as a movie theater but is now a performing arts center. The board has been working to raise money to continue restoring the building to its former glory. The roof was replaced a year ago, and the board has been focusing on the interior of the theater.

Arnett said tickets are still available, but sales will end early this week and will be capped at 150, to allow plenty of space for those attending to mingle, she said.

Tickets are $35 and can be reserved by calling the Leeds box office at 744-6437 or www.leedscenter.org.

Contact Fred Petke at fred.petke@winchestersun.com.