The Atlantic Antic is back!

By Alex Rush

The granddaddy of all street fairs is back.

On Sunday, Sept. 26, the 1-1/2–mile stretch between Hicks Street and Fourth Avenue will host the 36th annual Atlantic Antic, featuring more than 600 food, art and shopping vendors, 14 performance stages and even kid-friendly activities like pony-rides and a magician showcase.

”The Antic is a New York institution that merchants and attendees anticipate year after year,” said Brooklyn Brewery owner Steve Hindy, who co-sponsors the event.

We can’t wait to pair his beer with the festival’s food, especially Pete’s Waterfront Alehouse’s succulent pulled pork. This slammin’ cue dish even won the Grand Master Award at the Meatopia BBQ competition this past July.

In addition to awesome food and drink, the Atlantic Antic has arranged for a slew of bands to rock the blocks. There’ll be Antic veterans like The Dysfunctional Family Jazz Band, who will play in front of the Brazen Head between Boerum Place and Court Street, as well as festival newcomers like The Windsor Terrors, a classic rock group. These Brooklyn-based old-timers, who met as school teachers way back in the 1970s, channel the British invasion-era bands that they grew up with.

”They’re not quite the Rolling Stones, but they’re pretty good,” said Jimmy Grimason, manager of the Chip Shop, where The Windsor Terrors will be taking the stage.

Atlantic Antic [Atlantic Avenue between Hicks Street and Fourth Avenue, (718) 875-8993], Sept. 26, 10 am–6 pm. For info, visit www.atlanticave.org.

Read more...

Four days of peace, film and music

By Meredith Deliso

Don’t let the name fool you — the Williamsburg International Film Festival is more than movies, and it isn’t just happening in Williamsburg.

The meeting of art, music and film — dubbed Willifest — is the brainchild of Brooklyn Films, a production company based in Williamsburg — and it runs Sept. 23-26 at various locations in North Brooklyn.

Opening night features a screening of “Pool Party” (pictured) at Galapagos Art Space in DUMBO. The documentary by Beth Aala, about the famed Williamsburg outdoor summer concert series — when it actually took place in a pool — captures performances by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Sonic Youth, MIA and Yo La Tengo at the McCarren Park Pool before it closed. Before the screening, Tatiana Moroz, Anwar Robinson and Mark McAdam will perform.

Other film screening highlights include the New York premiere of the Chinese film “Empire of Silver,” which closes the festival, and the premiere of “As Good as Dead,” starring Andie MacDowell and Carey Elwes, on Sept. 25 at El Puente in Williamsburg, complete with the red carpet treatment.

These are just a few of the 170 films selected for the four-day festival, which festival director Michael Helman sees as New York’s answer to Sundance, but with more to offer.

“Sitting there day after day in a movie theater watching film after film after film can get kind of boring,” said Helman. “You can go crazy when there’s nothing else to do but sit in a theater.”

So Willifest is an all-around arts festival, complete with film, as well as free music outdoors at Washington Plaza on S. Fourth Street, stand-up, workshops by industry professionals, a Moth Storytelling Slam at Brooklyn Bowl, and a photo exhibit by Enid Farber at the Knitting Factory. For inspiration, he took from the best tradition he knows — the block party.

“The whole concept,” he said, “is the world’s biggest block party.”

Willifest from Sept. 23-26 at various locations. A one-day festival pass costs $20 ($50 for a full festival pass). For schedule, visit www.willifest.com.

Read more...

The Edible Complex

By Meredith Deliso

Opa!

For two days this week, feast on gyros, shish kebab and baklava until your stomach aches at the Three Hierarchs Church’s Greek Food Festival, an annual tradition at the Midwood church for more than 50 years.

Thousands come out from all over the city for the outdoor festival, from Sept. 18-19, which prides itself in authentic, homemade Greek food.

“It’s a great festival, all home cooking and home-cooked pastries,” said Gus Savaros, president of the church council. “There’s all kinds of great delicacies. The pastries are outrageous.”

Not to be missed are the loukoumades, a flour-based treat fried and dipped in honey and seasoned with cinnamon and nuts.

The food’s so good many festival-goers make sure to buy some extra plates to bring home for seconds later.

To help you dance it all off, a live band will be playing Greek and Greek-American tunes.

“It’s music, dining and drinking,” said Savaros. “There’s something for each palate.”

Greek Food Festival at Three Hierarchs Church [1724 Avenue P between E. 17th and 18th streets in Midwood, (718) 339-0280], Sept. 18 from 6 pm-midnight and Sept. 19 from noon-6 pm.

Read more...

Laugh on with Eugene Mirman and friends

By Alex Rush

Eugene Mirman is all about the props.

And not just objects that he uses on stage during his act. The Park Slope comedian also gives props, as in pays homage, to his comedic influences, who include Steve Martin and Bill Cosby.

This month, his third annual self-named comedy festival will even host a 1986 tribute night at the Bell House on Sept. 16 that features old-school comedian Emo Philips, known for his childlike, somewhat idiotic persona.

“The year 1986 was the height of the stand-up comedy boom, and Emo Philips was the first comedian I’d ever heard I fell in love with,” Mirman said. “His stuff was so weird and smart.”

In addition to the stand-up bits, “An Evening of Comedy from 1986” will have hair stylists giving people ’80s hair makeovers and a Crocodile Dundee impersonator greeting people.

Mirman’s annual comedy festival, Sept. 16-19 at the Bell House, The Rock Shop and Union Hall, won’t shy away from new-school schticks, either. Case in point: Eugene’s World Class Masters of Comedy event on Sept. 18 at Union Hall, whose standout acts will surely be British comedian Daniel Kitson, Ron Lynch, and Marc Maron.

“They’re all very, very good,” Mirman said. “Each one is special in their own way: Marc wears glasses sometimes, Daniel has a beard and Ron is the oldest.”

Mirman, who made his own comedy major as a student at Hampshire College in Massachusetts, has his own ways of being a special Brooklyn comedian.

“I have a totally different face and name from everyone else, so that helps,” said Mirman. “Otherwise, I shop locally and never yell at a stranger’s baby.”

Eugene Mirman Comedy Festival at the Bell House [149 Seventh St. between Second and Third avenues in Gowanus, (718) 643-6510]; Union Hall [702 Union St. near Fifth Avenue in Park Slope, (718) 638-4400]; and Rock Shop [249 Fourth Ave. between Carroll and President streets in Park Slope, (718) 230-5740], Sept 16-19. For schedule, visit www.eugenemirman.com.

Read more...

Dig this new farm festival

By Meredith Deliso

Green’s the thing this month.

During the festival Farm City, urban agrarians — from artists to farmers to activists to foodies — will be celebrated, and founder Derek Denckla couldn’t have found a more perfect launch site than Brooklyn.

“Every great culinary trend and idea comes from Brooklyn, even if Manhattan exploits it later,” said Denckla. “It’s a thought leader in this area.”

The month-long festival highlights trends in urban agriculture — from rooftop farms to locavorism — kicking off with a fair on Sept. 12 at Invisible Dog in Cobble Hill.

The day-long affair is a great introduction to the borough’s food scene in all its glory: You’ll eat Brooklyn-grown food; attend workshops on foraging, pickling, and sausage making; eat victuals prepared by the Meat Hook, Marlowe & Sons, Ted & Honey, Egg and other restaurants; browse flowers, vegetables, and artwork made by Brooklynites; and even get to sample baked goods at a cook-off produced by The Food Experiments.

On Sept. 18, you can visit some urban agriculture centers, as Farm City will feature a tour of Red Hook Community Farm, which also features chickens and bees; Eagle Street Roofop Farm in Greenpoint (pictured); and Bed Stuy Farm, among others. Other elements of the festival include such indoor activities as film screenings and lectures.

Whether you’re a locavore, or never met the word’s acquaintance, Denckla looks to engage a wide array of eaters and increase our involvement in food production by highlighting the fervent farm activity and activism in Brooklyn’s backyards.

“It’s not some finger-wagging lesson, that the environment is going to hell in a handbasket — which it is — but that there is pleasure in resistance that is palpable when you see the work that people do in this fair,” said Denckla.

Can you dig?

Farm City will take place at several locations and times from Sept. 12-25. For info, visit farmcity.us.

Read more...

Clown around at this theater festival

By Stephen Brown

They may be clowning around — but it’s still art.

An all-out clown fest is going down at the Brick Theater in September, but this isn’t just your run-of-the-mill circus act. In fact, it’s an interactive, emotional roller coaster that will highlight the diversity of one of America’s most-misunderstood and underappreciated art forms. (The French have mimes, we have clowns.)

“There is a lot of story involved in our performances,” said Aubrey Crabtree, the co-director of the New York Clown Theater Festival. “Most of our work examines adult themes, sometimes sexual themes.”

To get the audience in the right frame of mind, the festival will open up with a gathering of clowns that will bring a smile to kids’ faces and terror to anyone with a hint of coulrophobia.

First, about 150 to 200 clowns, along with stilt walkers and a brass band, will assemble at some unionized square in Manhattan on Sept. 3 at around 5 pm. The crowd will then take the L train to Bedford Avenue, where they will march to the Brick Theater and begin an epic, hours-long pie fight that is open to anyone with the guts to go toe-to-toe with the pros.

“People go in groups of eight or so and you have a certain designated amount of time and pies,” said Crabtree. “The theater will be covered in plastic, and you can hose off afterwards.”

There will be a party after the pie fight, and the next day the month of clown performances begins.

Crabtree, who is a clown herself, said that the real pleasure of performing is the spontaneous moments that spring from interaction with the audience, making each show unique.

“I love the moment when people decide to play along,” Crabtree said. “Whether they’re just observing or up on the stage with you, they’re joining in and engaging in some playful way.”

One of the highlights of the fest is “The Last Show You’ll Ever See,” a one-woman show — clowns typically work in pairs — in which the clown and her trombone/companion prepare for the coming apocalypse with the prerequisite tomfoolery and pratfalls.

But these clowns aren’t just hunting for laughs — they have feelings, too.

“Clowning can be a cathartic experience,” she said. “The clowns are making analogies to our own behavior.

“Maybe the clown is doing a bit about having difficulty putting items in a bag — but that could be a metaphor for how hard it is for us to get our lives together.”

Some shows will feature “undercover” clowns who dress like regular folks, but get into absurd situations. Others will have clowns in more typical garb — but they work entirely in silence. Some will be musicians; others will focus more on interaction with the audience. A few shows also cater to kids.

The possibilities are endless.

“There is laughter, empathy, sadness, frustration, and pure joy — hopefully the audience is along for the whole thing,” Crabtree said.

The New York Clown Theater Festival at The Brick [575 Metropolitan Ave. near Lorimer Street in Williamsburg, (718) 907-6189], Sept. 3-26. Tickets $15 ($10 for weekend matinee family shows). Check www.bricktheater.com for showtimes.

Read more...

Music festival for short attention spans

For those with musical ADD, this one’s for you.

Over five days, tonight through July 11, the Local Correspondents festival, or LC Fest, presents more than 60 local acts in three songs, perfect for the listener constantly on shuffle (take a listen to some of the artists playing here).

“What’s so amazing about it is you can sit there for seven hours for five nights and just hear incredible musicians, one after the other,” said Paul Basile, of the band Great Elk, who helped organize the festival, now in its fourth year at Park Slope’s Bar4.

It helps that Local Correspondents, a five-year-old network and collaboration of city-based bands, has several hundred acts in its community to choose from for the festival — one reason that forced it to limit each performer to just three songs this year.

“We try to celebrate what the community is and has become over these last several years in terms of community and quality,” said Basile.

While the festival is always a big party among those singer/songwriters in the community, organizers hope those outside of it join in this year as well.

“I hope that this year’s festival can be a place where the music community and the community of music listeners can come together,” said Jessi Robertson (pictured), one of the festival’s organizers and founders of Local Correspondents, who plays the festival on July 10.

LC Fest at Bar4 [444 Seventh Ave. at 15th Street in Park Slope, (718) 832-9800], July 7-11, free. For info, visit www.localcorrespondents.com.

Read more...

It's back! Giglio feast returns on July 7

Talk about heavy lifting.

For more than 100 years, the Giglio has been delighting Brooklynites with the lifting of an 80-foot tall, three-ton tower.

To unsuspecting visitors to Williamsburg during the 12-day feast, the sight might be a bit mysterious, what with 100 grown men slowly hoisting the tower — a statue of St. Paulinus of Nola — down Havemayer Street, while still managing to hold on to their beer.

It’s all part of a celebration honoring Paulinus, whose saintly behavior included sacrificing himself for his son, being enslaved in Africa and then returning to Nola in one piece, where he was showered with lilies, aka gigli (read more about the tradition here).

Now in its 123rd year in the neighborhood, the feast also features music from acts like Danny Vecchiano and the Giglio Band, great, greasy street fair food like sausage and peppers and zeppolis, and a celebration of the community around Our Lady of Mt. Carmel parish, which organizes the festival, which runs July 7-18.

Year in and year out, it’s not to be missed.

Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Feast and Festival of the Giglio [275 N. Eighth St. at Havemeyer Street in Williamsburg, (718) 384-0223], July 7-18. The giglio is lifted on July 11 at 1 pm; on July 14 at 8 pm; and on July 18 at 2 pm. For info, visit www.olmcfeast.com.

Read more...

Hip-hop festival bigger than ever

By Alex Rush

The annual Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival is like the genre itself — it’s gotten bigger and more expensive every year.

When it began in 2005, the festival was a free, afternoon concert with just a handful of acts, the most famous being 1980s group Brand Nubian.

Over the years, the DUMBO showcase has managed to book a slew of nationally known artists like Ghostface Killah and DJ Premier, Video Music Box founder Ralph McDaniels as a host, and local business sponsors such as Brooklyn Brewery.

Today, the summer festival, held at Brooklyn Bridge Plaza from July 5-10, is a six-day celebration of the culture, complete with an amateur MC competition, a film exhibition, panel discussions, a DJ show and a $15 price tag for its main performance day.

Still, it’s a bargain, especially with the pioneering hip-hop group De La Soul headlining on July 10. The group has been in the game for more than 20 years and is still dropping new material. The Duck Down Records crew, celebrating their 15th anniversary, will also be performing at the waterfront show, as it has done the past two years.

“Most of the Duck Down roster is from Brooklyn, so it’s an honor and a privilege to come back every year,” said Steele, one-half of the gritty Smif-n-Wesson rap duo (pictured). “Expect our latest music and a real, live show. Ain’t no lip-syncing going on here.”

Other noteworthy performances include former Juice Crew member Masta Ace, borough up-and-comer Skyzoo, as well as a few out-of-towners, including Slum Village-associate Black Milk, bringing his hard-hitting rhymes to represent Detroit, and Washington, D.C.-based trio Diamond District, offering their blend of sample-heavy beats and story-telling rhymes.

There’s more than just the music to look forward to. Festival director Wes Jackson is especially pumped for the July 6 Bodega Education Initiative, a teach-in about the life and works of late producer J Dilla. The seminar is true edutainment, with hip-hop artist Q-Tip among the speakers at the Initiative, held at The Brooklyn Historical Society in Brooklyn Heights.

“We wanted to create an academic archive for hip-hop music and culture,” said Jackson. “Hip-hop has a healthy commercial and entertainment value, but we need to create an editorial and academic record so our story is told properly.”

The Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival at Brooklyn Bridge Plaza and Tobacco Warehouse (26 New Dock St. in DUMBO, no phone), July 5-10. Ticket prices vary; Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival Bodega Education Initiative at The Brooklyn Historical Society [128 Pierrepont St. between Clinton and Henry streets in Brooklyn Heights, (718) 222-1241], July 6, 2–8 pm. Tickets $10. For info, visit www.bkhiphopfestival.com.

Read more...

Northside Fest full schedule here

The Northside Festival schedule is finally finalized.

There are way to many bands to list here, so start planning your weekend here.

Read more...

Freddy's tribute

Miss Freddy's?

The Prospect Heights bar closed its doors in April, but now, it's getting its big screen debut.

From Found in Brooklyn comes word from Vicente Rodriguez Ortega, a Freddy's regular and filmmaker who is premiering his documentary, "Freddy's," at the Brooklyn International Film Festival.

"Freddy's was a hub of wonderful people, musicians and lovely weirdos," said the filmmaker. "I only managed to scratch the surface of what it was, what it is, what it will be because in many ways, it's timeless."

Catch it tonight at Brooklyn Heights Cinema [70 Henry St. between Cranberry and Orange streets in Brooklyn Heights, (718) 596-7070] at 7 pm and Friday at indieScreen [285 Kent Ave. between S. First and S. Second streets in Williamsburg, (718) 388-4306] at 6 pm.

Read more...

Get 'Hook'ed at annual South Brooklyn music fest this weekend

Experience Red Hook from front to back this month.

The 17th annual Red Hook Fest brings music and dance to South Brooklyn — from Coffey Park to the pier.

“We’re bringing world-class professional artists to Red Hook who might not come here otherwise, people you might see at BAM for $50,” said Jon Mayer of Dance Theater Etcetera, which produces the free festival on June 4 and 5.

On the music end will be M.U.G.A.B.E.E., a Mississippi-based hip-hop/jazz/soul super-power fronted by brothers Carlton and Maurice Turner, and salsa act La Excelencia.

“Red Hook has a really old-school salsa group — families go back several generations in the neighborhood,” said Mayer. “We’re excited to get the old-school folks out to dance.”

Speaking of dance, there will also be performances from the companies Decadance and the Red Hook-based Cora Dance, and the tapping, rapping Joseph Webb (pictured), a veteran of Bring in ’Da Noise, Bring in ’Da Funk.

For the first time in the festival’s history, festivities will be held at Coffey Park, in addition to the Valentino Pier, in an effort to bridge the divided the neighborhood: the front, comprised of one of the largest housing projects in Brooklyn, and the back, made up mostly of newer transplants to the neighborhood.

“People in the front feel like they’re not welcome in the back,” said Mayer. “But what the festival does every year is bring people together.”

Red Hook Fest at Coffey Park (Richards and Pioneers streets), June 4 from 6-9 pm, and Valentino Pier (Coffey and Ferris streets), June 5 from 11 am-7 pm. For info, visit www.redhookfest.com.

Read more...

Gowanus jazz

Gowanus most likely isn’t the first place you think of to go hear some good jazz, but for this month, it is.

For the next three Saturdays, the Gowanus Jazz Fest is coming to the Douglass Street Music Collective.

“Brooklyn has a lot of great musicians, so the idea was to highlight some of the local talent that tends to perform all over the world, but not always so much in Brooklyn,” said festival founder and pianist Frank Carlberg, who lives in South Slope.

Saxophonist Sam Newsome (pictured) kicks things off on May 8, performing music from his new CD, “Blue Soliloquy.”

“Many people see playing solo saxophone as some type of novelty, but I take it much more seriously,” said Newsome. “I foresee a day of when solo saxophone will as viable a format as solo piano.”

Carlberg will also be featured prominently throughout the festival, playing new music set to poetry by Ken Mikolowski with Big Enigma on May 8, with The Carlberg/Urie City Band on May 15, and with Tivoli Trio on May 22, where they’ll play compositions by Carlberg that mainly draw from cinematic and circus inspirations.

While hosting the festival at the Douglas Street Music Collective – of which Carlberg is a member – was a natural choice, the musician had another motive.

“Gowanus is a bit of a forgotten neighborhood,” said Carlberg. “I thought it would be a good idea to do something right here.”

Gowanus Jazz Fest at Douglas Street Music Collective [295 Douglass St. near Third Avenue, no phone] May 8, 15 and 22, with sets at 8 pm and 9:30 pm each night. Suggested donation $15. For info, visit www.gowanusjazzfest.com.

Read more...

Date night!

By Thomas Tracy

Dinner and a movie just got easy.

Park Slope’s Fifth Avenue Business Improvement District has revolutionized this classic dating staple with its “Films on Fifth 2010” series, which promises to bring independent films directly to diners as they delve into their main courses.

From now until May 10, 20 films lensed by Brooklyn movie makers will be viewed at various locations along Fifth Avenue in Park Slope, from bars to restaurants to the Old Stone House.

“Many of us never get a chance to see independent films,” said Irene LoRe, owner of Aunt Suzie’s Restaurant between Carroll and Garfield streets. “I never went to the Tribeca Film Festival and I wish I could go to Cannes, but that just never seems to happen.”

LoRe said that the films, which include the documentary “PStar Rising” (pictured), about a 9-year-old rapper’s relationship with her father, and the stickball mockumentary “When Broomsticks Were King” by Park Slope native Jason Cusato, are “absolutely stupendous.”

“They will bring an added value to Fifth Avenue,” she said.

The value is ultimately passed on to the diner, who only has to make a $10 minimum purchase to watch the film.

It’ll be the cheapest night out on record. Just don’t let your date know.

“Films on Fifth 2010” at participating locations along Fifth Avenue between Dean and 18th streets in Park Slope through May 10. All films begin at 7 pm and are free with a $10 minimum purchase. For info, visit www.parkslopefifthavenuebid.com.

Read more...

Celebrate Brooklyn sked is here!

Your summer is now set.

The Celebrate Brooklyn schedule is official.

We already knew that it kicks off on June 9 with a performance by Brooklynite Norah Jones.

For the rest of the schedule, head here, and get ready for a cool summer in Brooklyn.

Read more...

Northside Fest to return

From Greenpointer, the Northside Festival is on tap again for this year, June 24-27.

Last year's saw top acts such as the Hold Steady, Sunset Rubdown and Bishop Allen, with venues ranging from established halls to rooftops.

Organizers the L Magazine will roll out the list of bands, gallery events, film screenings over the next few months.

Read more...