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Weekend Festivals

By Christine Chen 7/05/12 4:56pm

Weekend Festivals

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The Five Can’t-Miss Events of the CBGB Festival

The famed CBGB & OMFUG (Country, BlueGrass and Blues and Other Music For Uplifting Gormandizers) was more than a music club at 315 Bowery; it was also a focal point underground culture and a launching pad for punk, rock and new wave bands. When it closed in 2006, plenty of people mourned its demise. Thus, the CBGB Festival was born: an ode to what the music club was and a celebration faithful to its original purpose–to showcase emerging artists and provide an environment to help them get started.

Below the jump are our five must-dos for the jam-packed weekend offerings (panels! screenings! rock shows!) of the inaugural festival. Read More

By Jessi Rucker 6/18/12 9:00am

Weekend Festivals

A couple of revelers on the ferry to Governor's Island. (Photo: flickr.com/kapkap)

Jarred from the Fantasy of the Governor’s Island Jazz Age Lawn Party by Facebook

“Why are people all dressed up?” a pig-tailed blonde wearing an oversized baby blue tee asked while tugging on her mother’s gray biker shorts.

As masses of sweaty and restless participants from New York City’s Brain Tumor Walk waited for their ferry back to Manhattan to empty, they watched in awe as a gaggle of new inhabitants on a considerably more lighthearted pursuit unloaded onto Governor’s Island looking like time travelers.

The Observer was there to catch the 7th annual Jazz Age Lawn Party, hosted by Michael Aranella and the Dreamland Orchestra. This Gatsby affair celebrates the Roaring 20′s and all of that decade’s fashion, cars and Charleston-inspiring melodies. Read More