Do you guys know what Saturday is? That’s right, it’s the day you get to read “The Kenucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved” and have it mean a little more, because it also happens to be the day of the Kentucky Derby. Even if you don’t care for horse racing or Southern gentility all that much, drinking a bunch of mint juleps and shouting at the TV is much more fun if you do it in the company of strangers instead of home alone. Still, you may as well enjoy that at a cheap or free Kentucky Derby party, so we found you six free parties and one you’ll have to pay a pittance to get in to.
Union Hall
702 Union Street, Park Slope
2pm, FREE
Even if you’re not big into horse racing, Union Hall’s party will be plenty entertaining. There’ll be corn-hole, there’ll be bocce ball, there’ll be a contest where the person with the best hat wins $100. Plus, drink specials from Bulleit, George Dickel and Barrows Ginger liqueur, in case just one kind of whiskey drink isn’t enough for you.
Pete’s Candy Store
709 Lorimer Street, Williamsburg
2pm, FREE
Like they do every year, Pete’s Candy store is hosting a party thrown by the Center for Investigative research. There’ll be pecan pie, ribs, a competition for the best dressed lady there and best of all, gambling! What’s a horse race after all, without a crapload of money on the line?
Berg’n
899 Bergen Street, Crown Heights
4pm, FREE
Berg’n is huge and has food from some of Brooklyn’s best vendors, along with plenty of beer courtesy of their party partners Sixpoint. You’ll also be able to choose from three different takes on the mint julep, try to win a contest for the best dressed folks there, and if you’re a beer nut, there’s an extra special reason to show up: Berg’n will be debuting Sixpoint’s Jammer, their first attempt at a gose.
Mable’s Smokehouse
44 Berry Street, Williamsburg
3pm, FREE
Of course a down home barbecue place is going to be showing the derby, and showing it in style. There’ll be $7 mint juleps that come in souvenir cups, pie and like Pete’s Candy store, some friendly wagering. We said FRIENDLY, so please leave thumb-breaking gambling instincts at home.
Humboldt and Jackson
434 Humboldt Street, Williamsburg
5pm, FREE
Holy crap, a free party showing the derby on a 120-foot screen that also comes with FREE cheese and meat? You’ll be wishing the Kentucky Derby was every day here, until you think about how short a life of eating cheese and meat and drinking mint juleps every day would be. Then again, that kind of life might still be fun though…
South 4th Bar
90 South 4th Street, Williamsburg
3pm, FREE
$7 mint juleps and the race with live audio are perfectly good reasons to check out South 4th’s Derby Day party, but they’re going a step beyond and rewarding the best dressed man and woman at the bar with a free bar tab. Winning that and then having too much of a good time is certainly one way to go from “handsome distinguished man” to your usual “slovenly disgrace.”
The Bell House
149 7th Street, Gowanus
2pm, $10
Okay, so you need to pay for this one. On the other hand, the Bell House always throws a good party, and beyond the fact that there’s going to be live music, games and drunken debauchery, this party will pay tribute to Brooklyn Heights Blog’s John Loscalzo with the first Homer Fink’s Honorary Best Dressed Man Contest. Honor the man and wait until after the contest to accidentally spill brown whiskey all over your nice white suit.