Today is Saturday and maybe you’re looking for something to do today or tonight in Brooklyn and other parts of NYC. That’s why I spend hours every week culling the best and the brightest weekend events (Friday through Sunday). I make a list of all the things I’d like to do but probably won’t get around to. Hopefully, you can enjoy some of these offerings. In addition to film, art, theater, shopping and music events I try to list other interesting non-categorizable happenings like this weekend’s Gatsby-style lawn party on Governor’s Island. To see the full list, including info on the Siren Music Festival on Coney Island and Celebrate Brooklyn’s Africa Festival and the Traffic Calming Block Party in Ditmas Park click on read more…

Traffic Calming Block Party in Ditmas Park

Sunday, July 18th all day, Sustainable Flatbush is partnering with Vox Pop Cafe and Ditmas Park Blog to celebrate public space for people and make the corner of Cortelyou and Stratford safer! At the street fair, you can  answer a pedestrian safety survey about Cortelyou Road; join in public art projects (adults and kids too!);  listen to live music (kids’ music program at 11am);  decorate your bicycle;  learn about Compost for Brooklyn – a new public composting site in the neighborhood; pick up a Biking Rules pamphlet, provided by Transportation Alternatives; spin the Urban Martial Arts prize wheel. They’ll also be demoing our mobile solar panel, and at sundown we’ll light Lady Liberty’s torch with renewable energy!

Celebrate Brooklyn Celebrates Africa!

On Saturday, July 17, 2:00pm (gates open at 1:00pm) Celebrate Brooklyn presents their annual Africa Festival with music, food and culture builds to an ecstatic crescendo with the distortion-fueled trance music of Congolese thumb-piano wizards Konono No. 1. Dakar heavyweights Omar Pene & Super Diamono, seminal figures in the birth of the modern Senegalese sound, add a jolt of energy to the proceedings, while the distinctive voice of Zimbabwean Afro-soul diva Chiwoniso, the pan-African reggae of Meta & The Cornerstones, and the festival horns and drums from Haiti’s Djarara bring other unique flavors to the day.

Gatsby-style lawn party on Governor’s Island

Saturday and Sunday (July 17 & 18): Charleston lessons, picnicing, vintage hat shopping, bake sales and rumble seat riding on Governors Island. The ferry departs at Battery Maritime Bldg., slip 7. Tickets ($7) online at brownpapertickets.com.

Siren Music Festival in Coney Island

Saturday, July 17, noon-9PM: The Village Voice presents the Siren Music Festival. Set against the backdrop of Coney Island, an area historically known for amusing the zillion this free, all ages, all day music festival showcases renowned and emerging artists on two outdoor stages. This year’s bands include: Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, Matt & Kim, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Holy Fuck, Night Marchers and MORE.

Film

Inception, I Am Love, Cyrus, The Girl Who Played with Fire at Brooklyn Academy of Music; Despicable Me, Toy Story 3 in Digital 3D at Park Slope’s only movie theater.

Also at BAM: Cary Grant 2: A film festival of one of Hollywood’s most debonair leading men.

Theater

Piper Theater in Washington Park. Friday and Saturday at 8:30PM: Nocturnes; Saturday and Sunday at 8:30 PM: The Book of Liz by David and Amy Sedaris.

Art

Summer Group Show at Muriel Guepin Gallery in Cobble Hill. Her motto: “Affordable art near you.”

Belly Dancing

Saturday, July 17 at 2PM: Unveiled belly dancing showcase at the Bell House

Music

Sunday, July 18 5PM until 10PM: listening to scratchy 78 RPM records at the Bell House