There’s certainly no beating the borough of Manhattan for sheer iconography: Times Square, Central Park, the Empire State Building, Rockefeller Plaza, Broadway, Fifth Avenue … the list could go on. But you know what? It’s all a bit done. Iconic, yes, but hardly cutting edge.
More and more, when the entertainment-starved seek something new and fresh, they traverse the East River to Brooklyn, where a bohemian heart beats loudly still today. From boutique shops and chef-owned restaurants to an outrageous music scene, Brooklyn is the soul of up-and-coming New York. A fact perhaps no more apparent than at the DUMBO Arts Festival, held this September 24-26, 2010 on the waterfront.
First things first, DUMBO is a neighborhood. It stands for Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass, and encompasses the waterfront area along the East River between Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan Bridge. Since the late 1970s, DUMBO has been a dynamic home for visual and performance artists, who continue to support the neighborhood even as tourism and gentrification take their inevitable toll.
The DUMBO Arts Festival (formerly the DUMBO Arts Under the Bridge Festival) celebrates the both the tradition and the modern era of the neighborhood by bringing together dozens of Brooklyn’s best and most fascinating artists for three days of exhibition and even live demonstration. Plus, for you, it’s completely free!
In fact, if you’ve never attended the DUMBO Arts Festival, there has never been a better time. Festival organizers recently reformatted and expanded the entire festival to better showcase the full breadth of visual and performance art thriving today in Brooklyn. The former visual arts festival now encompasses dance, theater, music, film, puppetry, poetry and spoken word along with painting, sculpture and digital design. All that, and they still make room for fun family programming, or more accurately, kids programming.
Taking best advantage of the neighborhood, its beautiful scenery and established art houses, the DUMBO Arts Festival is sprawled out from venue to venue as well as along the gorgeous waterfront. Individual artists have relatively short showings, during which time they may either exhibit finished works or even create new pieces before a fascinated public. With so many mediums and, of course, so many artists, there is sure to be something to catch your eye.
The DUMBO Arts Festival in Brooklyn will run from September 24-26, 2010 and is completely free to attend. Parking is scarce, so public transportation is highly recommended. To view showing schedules or learn more about the festival, visit the website.
370 4th Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11215
Phone: 718-625-1500
Website: http://www.hotellebleu.com/
While it would be disingenuous to call Hotel Le Bleu bohemian, it is certainly a sublime choice for the free-spirited Brooklyn traveler. Sophisticated but never pretentious, artsy through and through, this boutique Brooklyn hotel delivers a Brooklyn experience as much as a good night’s sleep. The way the soft blue glow exterior drifts through the night sky, the hotel is practically an art piece in itself. Hotel Le Bleu is located in Brooklyn’s page-making Park Slope neighborhood, not far from DUMBO.
Best Western Arena Hotel NYC
1324 Atlantic Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11216
Phone: 1-877-241-3723
Website: http://www.arenahotelnyc.com/
A recent addition to downtown Brooklyn, the Best Western Brooklyn Hotel Arena is another great choice for visiting just about anywhere in Brooklyn and New York City at large. This newly opened downtown Brooklyn hotel is located just steps from the subway line, and therefore, just steps and a short train ride to where you want to be, including the nearby DUMBO neighborhood. Best Western Arena Hotel is a great value choice.
Have fun at the DUMBO Arts Festival in September 2010.
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