1. You won’t smell like smoke from Bonfire 2018, an interactive and immersive live performance arts festival with a strong yet warm sound of diversity from all boroughs of NYC, from hip hop to indie, rock & roll to trap, and beyond. (Friday, Autumn Ave, FREE-$10)
2. Learn the culture of the Caribbean at CaribBEING, a mobile art center amplifying the surrounding Caribbean communities through art and activations, where you can engage with culture from across the Caribbean diaspora. (Fri-Sun, Brooklyn Museum, $16 suggested)
3. Be a PYT on wheels at the Michael Jackson Tribute Skate and celebrate the life and music of the legendary King of Pop and skate to the hits played by a live DJ all night long. (Friday, Brooklyn Bridge Park Roller Skating, $10-16)
4. Turn blue at Moonlit (the Blue Lotus Portal) for a night of the blue lotus flower serving as a muse & medicine for the evening, with sonic alchemy, embodiment journeys, spoken word performances, a collective soundbath, and more. (Friday, Ambrosia Elixirs, $20)
5. Get drenched in sound at Sound Bath and Hapé Ceremony, a gong meditation featuring the sacred tobacco snuff, hapé provided by an, herbalist, sound healer, and kambo practitioner. (Friday, Earth Arts Center, $20-25)
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6. Practice the Moonwalk at Brooklyn Loves Michael Jackson Block Party and celebrate his life the weekend before his birthday, playing hits from his catalog, dancing, impersonators, and much more. (Saturday, Do The Right Thing Way, FREE)
7. If you didn’t get tickets to the other festival, try the Dark DIY Festival, an event founded to increase representation of musicians and sound artists of African, Latinx, Indigenous, and Asian heritage in the DIY music community with a broad range of alternative performances. (Saturday, Color Scenes, $15)
8. Bring out the shadows at Cyanotype For Beginners, where you’ll create beautiful blue-hued photograms by placing objects directly on the photo-sensitive fabric/paper, exposing it to sunlight, then rinsing to reveal your image. (Saturday, Brooklyn Brainery, $35)
9. You don’t have to stay out all night for The Art & History of J’Ouvert and learn about this Caribbean tradition with a conversation with artists and activists about the history of steelpan movement, and then outside to experience the music and dance in all its pulsating colors. (Saturday, Brooklyn Public Library, FREE)
10. It’s your last chance to see the Closing Reception for Block Party Exhibition, where the exhibit takes a more critical look at the importance of the block parties that enliven our neighborhoods in the summer, with art and live dance performances. (Saturday, Jenkins Johnson Projects, FREE)
11. Gain a new perspective on the parade at the Art of Carnival, with beautiful paintings, a lecture on the history of the West Indian Carnival, an explanation of the historical characters and their significance. (Saturday, Adriala Gallery, FREE)
12. Get future ready at Midnight – Closing Reception with a variety of works responding to or creating new conversation on utopian and/or dystopian spaces as it relates to urban environments. (Saturday, Paradice Palase, FREE)
13. Raise some dollars at the Brooklyn Research Supreme Summer Fundraiser, a nonprofit organization supporting interdisciplinary research and innovation, with low bit electronic music, a presentation and testing of devices, indie arcade games from DBA Arcade, raffle prizes, and more. (Saturday, Brooklyn Research, FREE)
14. Groove on at Jubilee as DJ Ceremony spins an infectious & upbeat mix of retro pop (’70s/’80s/’90s), indie, and UK dance jams until midnight. (Saturday, Parklife, FREE)
15. Be part of an institution at The Rub, a dance party where people come together, get wasted and shake their asses until the wee hours of the morning, playing hip-hop, disco, funk, house, and reggae. (Saturday, The Bell House, $15)
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16. Lounge poolside fabulous at Bae Watch with inflatables, floaties, life guards, pina colada slushies and more around a real live inflatable pool in the courtyard for a Sunday Funday. (Sunday, House of Yes, FREE-$5)
17. See a show with a message at Music Against Mass Incarceration III, a biannual music festival uniting the NY music community in the fight against fascism, featuring Guerrilla Toss, Kyp Malone, Sunwatchers, and many others. (Sunday, Secret Project Robot, $15)
18. Talk to the cards at Tarot 101 and explore the origins of tarot, its use as a device for divination, as well as the symbols and archetypes depicted in the Smith-Waite tarot cards. (Sunday, The Platform, $10-15)
19. Pants on Fire: A Comedy Game Show, a pub quiz, stand up comedy, and a game show, all rolled into one as you try and figure out which comedian is telling a true story. (Sunday, Branded Saloon, FREE)
20. 50 Lady Bits features 50 of NY’s best comics (who all happen to not identify as male) to do one joke each on lady things, featuring Jo Firestone, Selena Coppock, Shalewa Sharpe, and more. (Sunday, The Bell House, $15-20)
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