Street festivals are common among America's cities large and small. When it comes to the ultimate street festival it's only fitting that it takes place in America’s ultimate city, New York. In the borough of Brooklyn, you’ll find Atlantic Avenue, the home to the world famous street festival Atlantic Antic. Brooklyn is the perfect location for a street festival of this magnitude because of the richness in culture and diversity in the area. Thousands of people from New York City and all over the entire country flock to Brooklyn to experience this one-of-kind gathering. It brings together everyone under the common ground of celebrating shopping, music, food, activities and community.
Vendors come to Brooklyn from all over the United States to sell their wares and participate in the event. This is a great family event with an entire block solely dedicated to kid centric activities. All the shopping and fun will make you hungry. Atlantic Antic is the perfect place for a meal, with food options from around the world as well as classic festival favorites. We got the opportunity to interview the Executive Director of the Atlantic Avenue Local Development Corporation Tammy Ben-Eliezer-Baxter.
RAL: Tell me about some general Atlantic Antic information such as event history, how many visitors annually and what makes it unique.
TBEB: The Atlantic Antic™ Festival has been presented for the last 41 years. Each year this one day event features over 500 vendors, over 100 local Atlantic Avenue merchants and hundreds of thousands of visitors from all age ranges and from all diverse backgrounds.
There are many aspects of the Atlantic Antic™ Festival that make it one of a kind. The length of the street festival is over one mile, the way that local Atlantic Avenue Merchants can display their goods and services on the street right outside their own storefront as well as the entertainment and performance stages up and down the entire festival.
RAL: Take me through a typical day at Atlantic Antic.
TBEB: You can expect to have an amazing time exploring food, shopping, entertainment, activities and fun. This year there will be 15 live stages of music, dance and programming. The special zones include a block-long Kids Zone, featuring pony rides, bounce houses and many more children’s activities. One of the best ways to get current on the event is by downloading our new event mobile app at topi.com/app and enter event code AA2015 for more information on all the programming and stages schedules.
RAL: What does this event mean to the community, economy and does it support any local special causes?
TBEB: The annual Atlantic Antic™ Festival is a day of community pride for the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Boerum Hill, Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill and Downtown Brooklyn.
The annual event is important to local Atlantic Avenue merchant businesses because they can showcase their stores and show visitors what they offer. The furthering of economic development is very important to our organizational mission. Not only does the Atlantic Antic™ increase revenue for local merchants, it attracts visitors to return to Atlantic Avenue to shop and dine.
This year’s event theme is The Youth Are Our Future which ties into the AALDC Youth Community Scholarship Program which provides scholarships to low-income youth so they have the opportunity to attend cultural and educational programs in the local community.
RAL: Why should people come to Atlantic Antic?
TBEB: If travelers are looking for a large outdoor event that features both international and local foods, a wide array of crafts and shopping as well as entertainment and family friendly activities, the Atlantic Antic™ is the place to be on Sunday, September 27th, 12 to 6 pm, rain or shine!
For additional information visit their website.