Brooklyn’s DUMBO neighborhood is blowing up this weekend as a frenzy of artists, dancers, musicians, writers, and creative types gather for the DUMBO Arts Festival.
Events start on Friday, Sept. 24, and continue through the weekend. The festival organizers expect to attract 450,000 people to the festival's events at more than 150 studios, 35 galleries and 40 arts organizations in the neighborhood.
Since the festival is bursting at the seams with goings-ons, we selected a handful of intriguing, promising, and fun things to check out. The bonus? Dumbo’s charming cobblestone streets and a great view of the Manhattan Bridge.
WNYC's picks for Saturday
AfterShock :: Marine Life Emergency Pillow Jennifer Zackin's alpaca pillows which burst forth from the East River rocks remind you that there are creatures in the endangered briney sea-life ecos. Saturday (and Sunday)
Galapagos DUMBO Kite Flying Society If you can drag the kiddies away from morning cartoons, haul them out for some free kite flying and all-around good family fun. 10 AM, Saturday (and Sunday), Brooklyn Bridge Park at Main Street.
Drum circle Enough said. 12 - 2 PM, Saturday, Tobacco Warehouse
The Rumble Room: Street Art Battles Not sure what “a virtual artistic boxing match” is, but it seems worthwhile to find out. 12 - 6 PM, Saturday, Gleason’s Gym
Trunk: Reinterpreting William Strunk Jr.’s 1918 “The Elements of Style” Fashion meets the nerdy world of grammar in this show with work by five artists. 12 - 8 PM, Saturday (and Sunday), 68 Jay Street
Visual Poetry Marathon If you love poetry, then look no further. Central Booking’s members read cross-genre poetry during a four-hour session on Saturday. Then, they do it all over again for on Sunday. 2 - 6 PM, Saturday (and Sunday), Central Booking, 111 Front Street
Strung Out String Band Expect old timey Southern sounds which make you want to pour out some moonshine and join in with a washboard. 3 PM, Saturday, Tobacco Warehouse
Daniel Fishkin: Experimental Instruments This guy was inspired by the Daxophone, “a bowed wooden idiophone which produces a six-plus octave range of mammalian moans and sounds anywhere between a violin and a badger.” 5:30 PM, Saturday, 55 Washington Street, Room 253A
Life in Perpetual Beta: Screening and Q&A with director Melissa Pierce This documentary examines how technology has, and will, change self-perception. 6 PM, Saturday, St. Ann’s Warehouse, 38 Water Street
WNYC's picks for Sunday
The Czechoslovak-American Marionette Theatre Remember Mister Rogers' slightly creepy puppet fantasy land? This looks like that, but better. 11 AM and 2 PM, Sunday, 45 Main Street, Suite 800
DIY Arcade Discussion: Babycastles — New York’s first independent games arcade Rogue game creators gather for this chat. We’re thinking nerds in neon with joysticks at the ready. 12 PM, Sunday, St. Ann’s Warehouse
Walking Tour from the Brooklyn Historical Society Leading Brooklyn historian Francis Morrone leads a one-hour long tour of DUMBO’s architecture. 1 PM and 2:30 PM, Sunday, MTA's York Street F train station
The DUMBO Arts Festival runs from Friday, Sept. 24 to Sunday, Sept. 26.
