UPDATE: This is it folks, the final days of Littlefield’s Kickstarter! They’re less than $4,000 away from their goal and they only have until Thursday at noon to raise it. Plus the fundraiser is all or nothing, so help them reach $26,000 or this will all have been in vein.
Beloved Gowanus performance space and bar Littlefield’s lease is up, and their landlord isn’t renewing. The good news, however, is that Littlefield will be relocating just up the block to 635 Sackett St., a former printing warehouse with a massive outdoor space that will be used for a new adjoining sister bar and restaurant called Parklife.
________
To help raise money for the move and Parklife’s inception, Littlefield has launched an all or nothing Kickstarter hoping to raise $26,000 in the next 30 days. The donation prizes are sick, and include a video shout-out from a surprise comedian for pledges of just a buck or more, a dinner with the Littlefield staff for $50, a cocktail making class with Littlefield’s beverage director for $100 and, for $2,000 or more, a private party – DJ included, dranks on the house – for you and your closest 200 friends.
The floor plans for the new venue are a bit confusing, but are vaguely similar to those of Williamsburg bar The Woods in terms of the closed indoor space connecting to an outdoor space with a bar and restaurant dynamic, if that helps you picture it. Parklife’s entrance will be at 636 Degraw St., connecting to the new Littlefield venue through the center of the block. It’s like those street-through laundromats and community gardens.
________
Littlefield opened its doors in the area back in 2009, and has served as a hub of local comedy, burlesque, podcast recordings and other art, performance and beyond ever since. It’s the home to Jo Firestone’s Punderdome, a great diversity of creative drinking activities (Drunk Science, Drunk TED Talks and drunk movie screenings, to name a few) and a host of other shows by local artists.
UPDATE: We spoke with Littlefield co-owner Julie Kim and she confirmed for us that the transition from old Littlefield to new Littlefield will be seamless. “We’re not planning on closing the venue to transition,” she told us, “We’re going to time it so that there’s not a day we’re not open.”
Thank god, cause we’re not sure if we could deal with Union Hall and Littlefield being closed at the same time.
Littlefield’s online calendar currently has events scheduled through October, and Kim tells us she and her team aim to close up shop at the old/current venue around mid-May, “Pretty much right when the Kickstarter ends.” Parklife is slated to open a few weeks after that.
Kim also added that Parklife’s drinks menu will be far more extensive than Littlefield’s. As well, for the new restaurant addition, Littlefield has partnered with Prospect Heights Mexican joint El Atoradero, who will be setting up a Gowanus outpost at Parklife.
________