Golden Festival TONIGHT

The beautiful sounds of the Balkans (with Swedish and Norwegian thrown in) fill Brooklyn's Grand Prospect Hall tonight and tomorrow.

Come early (7:30) on Friday to get a free dance workshop so you can move your body to music from all the Balkan states, plus Ukraine, Norway, Sweden, Hungary, and Turkey to name a few. If you love Klezmer or Greek music, you will have a great time!

When: January 18-19, 2013
Where: Grand Prospect Hall 263 Prospect Ave btw 5th and 6th Ave, Brooklyn
Website: http://www.goldenfest.org
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FIRST!! Kings County Fiber Festival

If you can't make it up to Sheep & Wool in Dutchess County this month, this first-ever fiber festival in Brooklyn will be a nice consolation. Artisans peddling their fiber-oriented wares, demonstrations and more. Knitters and crocheters (natch) will be joined by dyers, spinners, weavers and more. This is a first-year event and will sure to flesh out. There's quite a burgeoning fiber community in Park Slope now that will surely embrace this event!

Where: Old Stone House 3rd Street & 5th Ave, Park Slope Brooklyn
When: Sunday October 6, 10-6 PM
Website: http://www.nycgovparks.org/events/2012/10/06/first-annual-kings-county-fiber-festival

New York Clown Theatre Festival at the Brick

 Starting with a celebration parade and ending with a funeral procession, the NY Clown Theatre Festival features more than two dozen theatrical clown performances, a clown silent film night and clown cabaret performances, plus free talks on clowning's influence on society and mainstream show business.

If you aren't familiar with classical clowning (think Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Marcel Marceau), or if it's something you thought you left behind after a brief semester in college, this is a great way to appreciate the pure art form of classical clowning, and see it with a few twists. See one performance or buy a 5-pack.

When: September 7-30, 2012
Where: Brick Theater, 579 Metropolitan Ave Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Website: http://bricktheater.com/

Brooklyn Waterfront Beer Festival

150 craft beers will be available for tasting at the summer Brooklyn Waterfront Beer Festival.  Approximately 75 breweries are slated to attend. Food trucks will also be on hand to sell their wares (separately). The setting for this is a grand tasting tent pitched on the East River and providing lovely views as the sun goes down. 21 and over policy strictly enforced - no kids will be allowed on site. The tasting is set up in two different sessions - afternoon and evening - with VIP ticket holders allowed extra time to taste.  




When: June 16, 2012 (afternoon and evening sessions separate)
Where: 5 North 11th Street , Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Website: http://bkbeerfest.com/

2012 World Science Festival

 Now in its fifth year, the 2012 Festival brings together many of the world's leading scientific minds with renowned artists and influential thinkers for a five-day celebration that, through discourse and debate, conversation and performance, allows everyone—kids and adults, novice and enthusiast—to experience science in a unique and thrilling way.

Saturday's free event is Innovation Square. It’s an afternoon of demos, challenges, and interactive activities, suitable for tech enthusiasts of all ages.

Sunday's free event is the Street Fair in Washington Square. Interactive exhibits, experiments, games and shows. Also free is a presentation at the Metropolitan Museum of Art regarding particle physics and their use to authenticate masterpieces of previous centuries. 


When: May 30 to June 3
Where:  Venues throughout New York; Innovation Square at MetroTech Plaza, Brooklyn
Website: http://www.worldsciencefestival.com

Taste of Fifth

Another fabulous taste event is coming up  - this one for the Restaurant Row on Fifth Ave in Park Slope, Brooklyn.  The setting, Grand Prospect Hall - is one of the great ironies in Brooklyn - a beautiful old world baroque-style banquet hall (complete with courtyard featuring rushing fountain) overlooking the Prospect Expressway. Hey, at least it's easy to get to!  Come, eat!

When: April 18, 2012 6:30-9:30 PM
Where: Grand Prospect Hall - 263 Prospect Ave, Brooklyn
Website: http://parkslopefifthavenuebid.com/tasteof5th

Taste Brooklyn... Mmmm... Tastes Good

Another of the popular "Taste" series features restaurants from Park Slope, Williamsburg and other points in Brooklyn, coming together for your gastronomic pleasure.  Tickets, often over $100 at swanky Taste events in Manhattan, start at $50.

When: April 3, 2012 5:30-9PM (VIPs enter at 5:30, public enters at 6:30PM)
Where: 155 Water Street at Pearl Street, Dumbo, Brooklyn
Website: http://www.brooklynexposed.com/index.php/tastingbrooklyn

KidsCafe Goes To College - Modern Dance in College and Beyond

 Dancewave's Kids Cafe Festival offers serious high school dancers an opportunity to see dance departments from professionally-based college dance programs in the metropolitan area and beyond.

The college theme is a twist on Dancewave’s annual Kids Cafe Festival, a popular community event now in its 19^th year that invites high school dancers from all over New York City to perform dances created by both student and professional choreographers.


When: March 3-4, 2012, 3PM
Where: LIU Kumble Theater
Website: http://dancewave.org/kidscafe.php

St. Francis "The Art of Brooklyn"

A film festival celebrating Brooklyn premieres tonight! The Art of Brooklyn festival takes place at Founders Hall at St. Francis College in Brooklyn Heights. Being all about the ART of Brooklyn, there are local exhibits and local food and drink from local merchants. Pre-show receptions and After-show parties also feature local musicians. A great way to find some new local talent, at a reasonable price of $12 (online) or $15 (at door).

When: August 20th-27th, 2011
Where: St. Francis College Theater (180 Remsen St, Brooklyn)
Website: http://www.theartofbrooklyn.com

Support PS 9 Arts Programs at Prospect Heights Arts Fair!

PS 9 in Prospect Heights is hosting its annual crafts fair April 9, 2011.  Artists of all ilk will be on hand to showcase and sell their creations. Be ready for a mix of jewelry, home decor, candles, clothing, accessories and much more.  Kids activities will be on hand as well.

FB supports another enterprising benefit for a local NYC public school: proceeds from this fair support arts programs at PS 9 in Prospect Heights. This year, even more than most, the help is needed. There is no door fee, so show up, support some great local artists, and help maintain arts in education.

When: April 9, 2011 11AM-6PM
Where: PS 9 80 Underhill Ave between St. Marks and Bergen Streets in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn.
Website: http://www.prospectheightscraftfair.com

2nd annual BAM CinemaFest

Lovers of the latest indie films will enjoy the lineup at BAM CinemaFest, running through next Tuesday. General screenings admission is $12 with discounts to BAM Cinema Club members. There will be one 3D movie as well - Cane Toads, The Conquest, a documentary about an invasive toad species in Australia.

Also part of CinemaFest is a free outdoor screening of Tiny Furniture, which won the South by Southwest Film Festival Jury Award this year. The screening will be held in the parking lot of the Mark Morris Dance building on Lafayette and Ashland place - diagonally across from the main BAM building - on Sunday June 13 at 9PM, with a rain date of June 17.

Where I'll be: The screening of Zodiac, the director's cut on Monday at 7PM. A post-screening discussion is planned.

When: June 9-13
Where: BAM Cinema, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Lafayette Street and Ashland Place
Website: http://www.bam.org/view.aspx?pid=1193