Hope you guys don’t want Umami Burger. Photo by Mary Dorn

Hi guys, and welcome to our rolling coverage of the Great GoogaMooga 2013. You can check back here for plenty of pictures of bands and a few updates on what’s going on in the park. Here’s a few things to know:

-beers are $7 or $8 at the normal beverage tents, but the selection is a little small. There’s a larger beer tent, but you need to buy tickets for that, for $1 each, with beers in there going for $3 or $4. We’d recommend paying cash, the credit card machines were already a little janky. You also have to buy a $2 reusable cup, because uh…it  makes the craft beer taste better.

-if you bring an empty water bottle, there doesn’t look to be anywhere you can actually fill it up, with the only water fountain in the festival area behind the press area (more…)

Get Happy: Just another normal night in Brooklyn’s comedy scene. via Facebook

1. OK, it’s finally here. Time to stuff yourself stupid at GoogaMooga, at least if you can afford to do that (Friday – Sunday)

2. As an alternative to GoogaMooga, you can check out the Bohemian Festival at the Onderdonk House. Should be a little more hippie-friendly (Friday – Sunday)

3. Learn about cocktails through whimsical illustrations at Powerhouse, and drink cocktails through your mouth because they’ll have those for you too (Friday)

4. It’s Bike to Work Day, so there’s nothing like a party celebrating the act of biking home from work. Because, ugh, work (Friday) (more…)

Oh, won’t you take us with you? (via flickr user wallyg)

The Great GoogaMooga round 2 is VERY NEARLY UPON US, and though many of us were cruelly turned away from free tickets to the festivities, there are still plenty of you out there preparing to hit Prospect Park this weekend. With that in mind, we’ve wrangled some much-needed tips from the organizers to help get things moving swiftly this year, since last year GoogaMooga-ers were subject to a few foodfest-related debacles (LONG WAITS FOR BEER WHY GOD WHY). Here are some things to keep in mind: (more…)

Don’t worry, you don’t have to volunteer as a human holder. Photo by Rachel DeLetto.

So you want to go to GoogaMooga still, but you don’t have $35 for a Prospect Park membership (or just don’t want the phone calls asking you to renew next year) and you haven’t won either of the contests for free VIP passes. Before you put up that Craigslist post offering your body for a ticket, be aware: the festival is also looking for volunteers to help run things smoothly. (more…)

And Celebrate Brooklyn we will.

Bust out those Google Calenders, because the long cold winter nightmare of not seeing free outdoor shows is finally over. This year’s Celebrate Brooklyn lineup is just another annual reminder of how much better and full of free stuff summer is, which should make all the other seasons feel bad when they look in the mirror. Highlights include Theophilus London, Mavis Staples, Big Boi (as previously reported), James Lidell, the awesome They Might Be Giants and, rounding it all out… Shaggy?! Sure, why not, it’s summer! Full lineup below: (more…)

Mac and cheese from Crawfish Monica. Get more of this for less of that. “That” being money, of course. via Facebook

GoogaMooga: fun in theory, until you remember you have to pay for all that damn food. And yet, even if you tell yourself you’ll only go to one or two places, once you show up and get a little liquored up, you’ll want to eat all the food. So at least you can grab this $10 coupon that entitles you to $20 worth of food at GoogaMooga. (more…)

How can you miss this? (via flickr user mjpeacecorps)

We’re all still reeling from the Great GoogaMooga Shutout of 2013, and if you’re not into springing for a $35 Prospect Park Alliance membership or $50+ VIP tickets, you’ve probably resigned yourself to a Mooga-free spring. But it turns out there’s hope yet: a pair of contests are promising free tickets to winners and/or participants, and they’re dangling those bite-sized Brooklyn foodstuffs right in front of your face! (more…)

Guess you’ll be seeing less of this soon. (via flickr user Monica333)

It’s a busker-eat-busker world out there for struggling street musicians and the like, but the city’s not about to make it any easier on you guys: starting next month the Department of Parks and Recreation’s mandating that street performers be relegated to specific spots in public parks if they’re asking passersby for tips. Sorry, guys…but on the bright side, fewer annoying buskers for the rest of us to deal with! (more…)

You’ll still probably wait on this line forever. (via flickr user WarmSleepy)

If you’re like me, you were subject to the the sharp, bitter sting of rejection today when an email popped into your inbox informing you that, no, after nine days of post-registration waiting, angst and anxiety, you have NOT been selected to receive free tickets to next month’s Great GoogaMooga event. Don’t cry though: if you become a member of the Prospect Park Alliance, they’ll give you two free tickets on either May 18th or 19th. Now you won’t have to spend the weekend  hoping the organizers haven’t actually worked out all the kinks that turned last year’s Mooga into a big ol’ mess, or that your ticket-holding friends find themselves trapped get swallowed by a freak Prospect Park sinkhole. Nor will you have to pay for a $55 ticket to Friday’s show or volunteer to get in on Saturday or Sunday. (more…)

If you win, he will award you the prize, because it’s his nature.

Sure, Manhattan has its Tribeca Film Festivals and its New York Film Festivals and its LES Film Festivals and whatever, and maybe Sundance is never really coming to Kings County, but worry not, Brooklyn cinephiles, because you have not been forgotten! Tropfest, the world’s largest short film festival, is heading to Prospect Park this summer, and not only will it be free to attend, but it’ll be hosted by Liev Schreiber, because , yeah, whatever De Niro and Redford, we’ve got Sabretooth. Naturally, it was hosted by Hugh Jackman last year, so once again Wolverine is one step ahead of his bro. (more…)