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Fri 8
Afro-Latino Festival Restoration Plaza; 5pm; $18–$56
Join in on this celebration of African heritage in Latino and Caribbean countries. The event features screenings, talks, art installations and two days’ worth of music from rap, hip-hop, salsa and electronic artists. Saturday 9’s lineup features hip-hop sisters Nina Sky, global DJ Nickodemus, funk mastermind Rich Medina and more. Get ready to sweat.
Tap That: Milkshake Party Babeland; 7pm; free
Reward curiosity with chocolate at this sex play workshop. While the bedroom masterminds of Babeland give you tips on toys, moves and more, Black Tap serves up free tastes of milk shakes like the Oreo Cookies & Cream, Cotton Candy or Caramel, topped with enormous cake slices, cookies and pretzel sticks. You can also enter a raffle for $250 worth of Babeland products. Because nothing stimulates a sensual awakening like ice cream.
House of Love: Dance Party & Sexual Experience House of Yes; 9pm; Free before midnight with costume and R.S.V.P.
Cast your inhibitions aside as you enter this psychedelic, sensually stimulating fun house. Within moments of walking in, you’ll be invited into secret rooms, pop-up massage booths and blindfolded adventures. While the dance hall DJs bring the house down with synth beats, dancers of all genders strip onstage, jump into bubble baths and twirl down aerial installations. The party encourages free love, but affirmative consent is required. Wear your comfiest clothes: You’re going to be feeling yourself all night.
Sat 9
Fluent City Videology Bar & Cinema; 6:30pm; $10
Every month, Videology teams up with immersive, after-work language school Fluent City to screen a foreign film and encourage further exploration into its language. This month, see the time-warping, poetic Kaili Blues from China. If you're interested in studying more Chinese, be sure to sign up for the raffle, which could get you $100 toward a Fluent City group course.
I'm From Driftwood Sixth Annual Summer BBQ Hartley House; 4pm; $100 at door, $250 VIP
What's better than a summer Saturday in July spent at BBQ? Knowing that all that mouth-watering meat and drinks you're throwing back are for a great cause. The non-profit I'm From Driftwood, which collects stories from LGBTQ individuals, is hosting its sixth annual BBQ fundraiser at Hartley House in Hell's Kitchen this Saturday. The event will feature an open bar, silent auction, raffle prizes, live jazz music and a catered menu from Andy Barachani, Senior Food Editor at Bon Appétit. For the first time ever this year, an honorary committee of LGBTQ storytellers will serve as hosts for the event including Adam Goldman (The Outs), Noah Michelson (Huffington Post), Stephen Winter (Jason and Shirley) and actor Alan Cumming.
Star Trek: The Starfleet Academy Experience Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum; 10am; $25
Live long and prosper during the Intrepid’s celebration of the 50th anniversary of Star Trek. The museum is going all out, with it’s 12,000-square-feet exhibition that lets folks join the Starfleet Academy in the 26th century (dreams do come true). After orientation, cadets will discover nine training zones that specialize in language—now’s the time to put your Klingon knowledge to the test—medicine, engineering, navigation and more. In addition to becoming an all-star commander, there will be interactive activities including leap motion, table projections, mapping and holograms.
Warm Up 2016 MoMA PS1; 3pm; $22–$25
If there's one thing you can depend on, it's that every Saturday from June through August MoMA PS1's courtyard will be packed with top-notch music talent—and sweaty revelers.
Drake vs. Kanye: Tribute Party Brooklyn Bowl; 9:30pm; $15, at the door $20
It’s the showdown of the century: Canada’s premier Jewish rapper versus Mr. Kardashian himself. Head to Brooklyn Bowl and lose your mind (and your voice) to the best hits of Drake and Kanye, including “One Dance” and “Famous.” Party organizers Lights & Music Collective maintain a no-remixes-or-mash-ups policy, so you get to jam to your favorites as you heard them originally. No need to spend your rent check on the Saint Pablo and Summer Sixteen tours when you can get lit at this party for purists.
Whiskey Fried Classic Brooklyn Expo Center; 1:30pm or 6:30pm; $85
Wear your stretchy pants to this touring tribute to Southern foods and strong spirits. Taste barbecued and fried bites from Bareburger, Sweet Chili, Daisy May’s and the Donutologist, and wash ’em down with some of the country’s best whiskeys. Brooklyn bands fiddle and strum to keep you dancing (and from falling into a food coma).
Bulletin Market on the corner of North 8th and Driggs in Williamsburg; 11am–7pm; Free admission
Just when you thought Williamsburg couldn't get any more saturated with fantastic food, stunning clothing and funky accessories, a new market is taking over a long-vacant lot at the corner of North 8th and Driggs. Bulletin Market, a pop-up food and design market that will vend booze, snacks, home decor and jewelry, launches on Saturday, July 9th and will operate from 11am-7pm each Saturday and Sunday through the end of August. In an area already dominated by mega-markets Smorgasburg and the formerly Brooklyn Flea, its operators Alana Branston and Ali Kriegsman—two twenty-somethings who run the website-slash-marketplace Bulletin, promise a different kind of hang, a relaxed, block-party vibe where you can grab a craft beer and play lawn games between wallet-endangering shopping missions.
Sun 10
Bastille Day on 60th Street; noon; free
Celebrate France's Independence Day at this Gallic fair filled with bakery bites (crêpes, éclairs) from François Payard, Dominique Ansel and Financier Patisserie, plus performances by can-can dancers strutting their stuff to the jubilant Hungry March Band. Enjoy a special show presented by the cast of hit musical An American in Paris, and once the festival fatigue sits in, enjoy nibbles of fromage and baguettes, and sips of beer and various wines from Sud de France.
Ghostbusters Trivia Videology Bar & Cinema; 8pm; free
Before this year’s badass new Ghostbusters show up to save NYC, refresh your memory of the originals at this fan celebration. Compete in five rounds of comprehensive trivia that cover everything from human sacrifices to big marshmallow monsters. Fittingly, trivia teams have a four-person maximum, so make sure you and your fellow ghost-trappin’ fiends can tell the difference between Slimer and Gozer.
Bastille Day Pétanque Tournament Bar Tabac; noon; free
Brooklyn (specifically Boerum Hill) throws a massive Bastille Day shindig, comprising live music, amazing food, cold beverages and a massive Pétanque Tournament outside of Bar Tabac. Teams of three people (72 groups total) will compete on the packed sand courts, while French-loving revelers watch and enjoy chowing down on bites from the booths of other local sponsors.
Disability Pride NYC Parade Union Square Park; 11am; free
The Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities teams up with several advocacy organizations to throw this joyous event. Now in its second year, the parade invites people with disabilities and their allies to join a procession from Union Square Park, up Broadway, to Madison Square Park, where the march ends with street vendors, nonprofit booths, wheelchair decorating, face painting and three hours of music and variety performances by members of the community. Check out performances by comedian Damon Rozier, troupe Roll Call Wheelchair Dance and rap group 4 Wheel City, along with a speech by Mayor de Blasio. March begins at Union Square Park, festival at Madison Square Park.
Queens: Mobsters, Murderers and Serial Killers Q.E.D.; 2pm; $10
NYC Adventure Tours founder and private investigator Ike Ilkiw leads you through the sordid, seedy history of some of the borough's most reprehensible figures at this chilling lecture.