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Arts Festivals in Brooklyn – September 27-29



This is a big weekend for the arts in Brooklyn, with two major events happening in exciting, lively DUMBO.  DUMBO, the District under the Manhattan Bridge, is recognizable from many TV shows and films (especailly Woody Allen films).    From here, you’ll get an astonishing view of Manhattan across the river, a chance to walk on cobblestones that hearken back to the city’s glorious past, and areas to wander among the warehouses which have now been converted to restaurants and boutiques.  In addition, the area’s wonderful, new Brooklyn Bridge Park is a delight, with its hills, promenades, and play areas.  The Park is bordered by Atlantic Avenue to the south and Jay Street to the north and runs along the Brooklyn waterfront.  brooklynbridgeparknyc.org

Two free events at the park warrant your attendance:

Photoville – Photoville is a Brooklyn-based photo destination, a pop-up village of freight containers transformed into temporary exhibition spaces, which runs through September 29 on the Uplands of Pier 5. The event includes a mix of exhibitions, lectures, hands-on workshops, night-time projections, a photo dog-run, a camera-flower greenhouse, and a summer beer-garden with food trucks.  The containers themselves offer up great photographic possibilities. The site covers more than 60,000 square feet in the heart of Brooklyn Bridge Park.  A full schedule of events can be found at http://photovillenyc.org/schedule/.  www.photovillenyc.com.  Weekend hours are Friday 4pm to 10pm; Saturday noon to 10pm; and Sunday noon to- 8pm.

Dumbo Arts Festival – also through September 29, the Dumbo Arts Festival, http://dumboartsfestival.com/

The DUMBO Arts Festival is a non-commercial, welcoming presentation of local, national and international art set against the breathtaking backdrop of the Brooklyn Bridge and the Manhattan skyline. More than 400 artists from a variety of disciplines will be showcased.  Traditional to avant-garde pieces are highlights, and outdoor projections are on view through midnight each night. Festival hours are Friday 6pm to 9pm, Saturday noon to 9pm, Sunday noon to 6pm. Art revelers can enjoy outdoor and indoor visual art installations and exhibitions, digital art and large-scale projections, visiting artists in their studios or making murals on the street, dancers, poets as well as performers throughout the neighborhood, on street corners, and in the park.  Plan to spend a few hours!

The DUMBO Arts Festival spans the neighborhood of DUMBO, Brooklyn, between the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges, including the waterfront.

Posted by Meryl Pearlstein
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Off-Broadway Week: 2-for-1 Tickets through October 6














If you’re a theater lover, you know that there’s much more to see than the mega-hits running on Broadway. Off-Broadway is equally inventive and gives you a chance to be more up-close and personal in smaller venues.  For those of you who have been lax in buying tickets to these shows, now’s the time to go:  NYC & Company, New York City’s official marketing, tourism, and partnership organization has announced the opening of Off-Broadway Week. Through October 6, two-for-one tickets to 43 of New York City’s popular Off-Broadway shows will be available to a wide range of theatrical genres including comedies, dramas, musicals, family-friendly entertainment and more. Tickets are available at nycgo.com/offbroadwayweek.  Be sure to check the dates, as some blackout dates apply.

Some of my favorites are listed below including Avenue Q and the wildly inventive iLuminate: Artist of Light, a dance troupe seen on “America’s Got Talent” with fabulous music, artistry, light, drama, and, above all, incredible creativity. Others like Stomp and Blue Man Group aren’t new to the Off-Broadway scene, but they’re definitely worth a re-visit if it’s been a while since you first saw them. Thank you to The Off-Broadway League for offering this fantastic list of shows at these special prices.

Productions participating in Off-Broadway Week include:

  • Avenue Q
  • Avi Hoffman’s Still Jewish After All These Years
  • The Awesome 80s Prom
  • Bad Jews
  • Bayside! The Musical!
  • The Berenstain Bears in Family Matters, the Musical
  • Bill W. and Dr. Bob
  • Black Angels Over Tuskegee
  • Blue Man Group
  • Breakfast with Mugabe
  • Buyer & Cellar
  • Cougar the Musical
  • Cuff Me: The Unauthorized Fifty Shades of Grey Musical Parody!
  • Doña Flor y sus Dos Maridos
  • En el Tiempo de las Mariposas
  • The Fantasticks
  • Fetch Clay, Make Man
  • Final Analysis
  • Fuerza Bruta
  • Gazillion Bubble Show
  • iLuminate: Artist of Light
  • It’s Just Sex
  • La Gringa
  • La Nena Se Casa
  • The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
  • Me and Jezebel
  • The Model Apartment
  • My Big Gay Italian Funeral
  • My Big Gay Italian Wedding
  • NYC Dueling Pianos
  • Perfect Crime
  • Peter and the Starcatcher
  • Philip Goes Forth
  • Piggy Nation The Musical!
  • Romeo & Juliet
  • Sistas: The Musical
  • STOMP
  • Tennessee Williams’ “Two-Character Play”
  • Thokoza: I Sing For Freedom
  • Unbroken Circle
  • Women or Nothing
  • The Wonderful Wizard of Song: The Music of Harold Arlen
  • You Never Can Tell

Posted by Meryl Pearlstein
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September Street Fairs, Parades and Concerts in NYC

Fall weather means the return of street fairs, outdoor music, and parades to the city.  Here, in one place, we compile a listing of some of the most interesting ones happening throughout the city this month.  Plan your travels accordingly as street closures mean slow going in places.

92 Street Y Lexington Avenue Festival – food, music, activities and family entertainment, along one mile of Lexington Avenue on the Upper East Side.  Try rock climbing courtesy of Brooklyn Boulders (86th Street), food offerings from around the world, dance and entertainment at the main stage (85th Street), activities for the younger ones at the 92Y KidCentral area (84th Street), and much more.

Sunday, September 15, 12pm-5pm
Lexington Avenue from 96th to 79th Street, Manhattan

www.92y.org/streetfest

87th Annual Feast of San Gennaro – Italian specialties, parades, music in Little Italy, Manhattan

Through Sunday September 22, 2013, into the late hours

Mulberry Street between Canal and Houston St
www.sangennaro.org

A spate of localized neighborhood fairs pop up over the next two weeks.  All basically offer American and international merchandise and food, art, crafts, antiques, merchandise, crowds and entertainment. Bring cash and a spirit of fun as you meander through the streets and enjoy the roasted corn, fried dough, sock stands, street art, and more.

  • Broadway Autumn Fair, Manhattan
    Saturday, September 21, 10am-6pm
    on Broadway from Waverly Place – 14th St.
  • Jerome Avenue Festival, Bronx
    Saturday, September 21, 12Noon -6pm
    on Jerome Avenue from Moshulu Parkway to Gun Hill Road
  • Bleecker Street Festival, Manhattan
    Saturday, September 21, until 6pm
    on Bleecker Street from 8th to 7th Avenues
  • Broadway Astoria Festival, Queens
    Sunday, September 22, until 6pm
    on Broadway from Steinway Street to Crescent Street
  • Grand Central Fall Fest, Manhattan
    Friday, September 27, until 6pm
    on 41st Street from Lexington Ave. – 3rd Ave.
  • Sixth Avenue Fair, Manhattan
    Saturday, September 28, until 6pm
    on 6th Avenue from 42nd St.- 56th St.
  • Forest Hills Austin Street Festival, Queens
    Sunday, September 29, until 6pm
    on Austin Street from 69th to 72nd Road

Two slightly different events in Staten Island will appeal to art and music lovers:

Staten Island Museum’s 63rd Annual Fence Show – a neighborhood art exhibition and sale.

Saturday, September 21, 11am – 5pm
Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden (Front Lawn)

The St. Luke’s Subway Series presents a free outdoor music concert by the St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble.

Saturday, September 28, 2pm
Snug Harbor, Richmond County Savings Foundations’ Tuscan Garden, 1000 Richmond Terrace, Staten Island

Also not to be missed is the colorful oompah-ness of the Steuben Day Parade in Manhattan, with its music, dance, costumes and floats celebrating more than three centuries of German–American friendship.  Tickets available for $15 for Grand Stand seats, www.SteubenGrandStand.eventbrite.com.

German-American Steuben Parade of New York

Saturday, September 21 – 12 Noon
Fifth Avenue, 68th Street to 86th Street
Grand Stand at 79th Street

As part of the celebration, kick off Oktoberfest in Central Park at 1:30pm at Rumsey Playfield, entrance at 72nd Street. Enjoy brews and entertainment featuring “Die Schlauberger,” “Spitze!” and other bands.  Tickets: $20 at www.SteubenOktoberfest.eventbrite.com.