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Jay-Z headlines the Meadows festival this Friday.
(Photo: Theo Wargo / Getty Images ) |
1. The Meadows Music & Arts Festival returns for an end-of-summer blowout headlined by Jay-Z, Gorillaz, and Red Hot Chili Peppers, and noteworthy performances from Erykah Badu, M.I.A., Broken Social Scene, and dozens more. Also noteworthy: the food lineup, including a festival of foods from Queens, and a very convenient booth set up by IdentoGO to enroll in TSA PreCheck (you'll need to bring a photo ID and proof of U.S. citizenship and must have a ticket to the festival).
2. Before you see Gorillaz at the Meadows on Saturday, check out their G-Foot pop-up store, with new merch designed by comic-book artist (Tank Girl) and band co-creator Jamie Hewlett. That’s taking place Thursday and Friday from 5 to 10 p.m. at 560 Grand Street in Brooklyn.
3. This weekend is also the tenth annual (and possibly last) Eugene Mirman Comedy Festival. Make the best of it with shows like Sh!t Show, where comedians including H. Jon Benjamin and Ophira Eisenberg exploit their kids for laughs; a live podcast taping of You’re the Expert with guest comedians Roy Wood Jr., Michael Showalter, and Sarah Kay; a benefit for the nonprofit 826NYC co-hosted by Wyatt Cenac and Sarah Vowell, and much more.
4. And plan your schedule now for the free Brooklyn Book Festival on Sunday, with 14 stages featuring over 30 authors, plus a marketplace. Authors include Jenny Zhang, Colson Whitehead, Jonathan Lethem, Nelson George, and Joyce Carol Oates. There are also a few events leading up to Sunday, including writers on writing, immigration, and belonging on Thursday; a talk with Jonas Mekas the same night ($30); and a talk with Prince’s art director on Friday.
5. This Saturday is the 13th annual Vendy Awards on Governors Island, a celebration of the diversity of the city's street-food purveyors. Vendors might vie to be recognized as the best in the city, but you’re the real winner, because a ticket entitles you to unlimited food from all 25 vendors, plus unlimited beer, wine, soda, and water.
6. And over at Brooklyn Bridge Park catch Photoville, as everyone’s favorite shipping-container photography fair returns with nearly two weeks of debuts, panel discussions, and workshops on the waterfront. Don’t miss Finding Home, a project that follows the lives of three Syrian-refugee mothers and their babies.
7. Up at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem is the Black Power! exhibition, examining the lasting influence of the decade-long movement, from aesthetics to politics to the arts. Admission is free.
8. And don’t sleep on Kara Walker’s “triumphant” new show at Sikkema Jenkins & Co. It closes October 14.
9. The Lower East Side’s Loreley Restaurant & Biergarten channels Oktoberfest beginning at noon on Saturday, with a free keg-tapping ceremony at 2 p.m. followed by a free pig roast at 4 p.m.
10. And Nowadays pays homage to the German celebration with Nowafest, beginning Saturday evening with a DJ-ed all-you-can-eat sausage dinner from the Meat Hook featuring beers by Threes Brewing, plus a couple German options, of course. One-off sausages and beer will also be on sale. Save some room for dessert, and happy weekend!