Best Things To Do In New York City This Weekend
It's the last weekend of August, so soak up what remains of the summer by attending an off-off-off Broadway play, heading to the beach, laughing your butt off, or heading out to one of our other picks for the best eating, drinking, and merrymaking events this weekend. By Jessica Allen.
The Brooklyn Comedy Festival promises to make you laugh until you cry, or cry until you laugh, or just laugh and laugh your cares away. The festival showcases the best, well, showcases in the borough, offering comics of every stripe and medium, from improv to stand up to sketch to web series, the opportunity to shine on stage. Along with the performances, there will be post-show discussions and afterparties. Monday, Aug. 24, through Sunday, Aug. 30, see schedule for details, tickets required.
Every August, North America's largest multi-arts festival takes over small theaters all around the city. The New York International Fringe Festival specializes in emerging playwrights and performers, giving more than 200 companies a chance to get their big break, or just show their work to appreciative audiences. Tons of shows and stars got their start at the Fringe. Saturday, Aug. 14, through Sunday, Aug. 30, see schedule for details, tickets required.
Waku Waku + NYC seeks to bring the best of Japanese pop culture to the city of New York, specifically Brooklyn. "It's Cool Japan meets New York's Coolest Borough," say the festival organizers, an event designed to help participants feel waku waku, or "excitement in a dream-like state." The first inaugural festival features manga, anime, food, music, fashion, and film. Saturday, Aug. 29, and Sunday, Aug. 30, see schedule for details, $45 for a one-day pass, tickets required.
Sponsored by the neighborhood association, this fundraising festival welcomes the whole city to its celebration of the South Brooklyn neighborhood, including the great beach that gives the area its name. For the past 38 years, the festival has sought to use music to link people and celebrate diversity. Newcomers and oldtimers alike set up booths or just walk around, enjoying the music, shopping the wares, noshing on nibbles, and simply socializing. Pack your bathing suit! Sunday, Aug. 30, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., free.
In the market for a taxidermied animal? What about an ancient tome full of gruesome critters or an old-school ring made from bone? What about a loose foot? At the Morbid Anatomy Flea Market, you can browse such wares, and much more, from an array of vendors, including taxidermist to the stars Amber Jolliffe Maykut and Ryan Matthew Cohn from the TV show Oddities. Sunday, Aug. 30, 12 to 6 p.m., $1, tickets required. Another $4 gets you entrance to a special exhibit.
