Hester Street Fair.
Halloween weekend is upon us, boo. The good news: There are a slew of parties on the horizon. The bad news: After this weekend the city freezes over and Santacon (ugh, Santacon in Williamsburg?) is what passes for outdoor activity. But don’t fret: The city’s biggest outdoor markets are busting out the folding tables and beer kegs one last time this weekend. Hit ’em up before they hibernate.
Brooklyn Flea and Smorgasburg
Williamsburg Smorgasburg on Saturday, Oct. 29, 11am to 6pm, East River State Park; DUMBO Flea on Sunday, 10am-5pm, at Manhattan Bridge Archway Plaza.
Smorgasburg was packed to the gills last time we went; hopefully that late-October chill will scare off some of the crowds. If not, at least being crushed up against hundreds of fiending foodies will have a warming effect. Smorg makes one final go of it on Saturday and then Brooklyn Flea says goodbye on Sunday before they both merge and take up residence at their old stomping grounds, Skylight One Hanson. The indoor market is moving from Sunset Park, where it held court last year, back to downtown Brooklyn (which is apparently being called DoBro these days?). It’s a smart move, given that the new Alamo Drafthouse theater is a short walk away. Starting Nov. 5 and 6, the Smorgasflea, or whatever they’re calling it, will be popping every weekend through March.
Hester Street Fair
Saturday, Oct. 29, and Sunday, Oct. 30, 11am to 6pm, corner of Hester and Essex.
To wrap up their seventh season, our friends at the Hester Street Fair are admirably fighting off the hangover from the Grub Street Food Festival and once again busting out the $3 Tiger beers for a two-day blowout. In addition to the usual array of food, clothing, accessories, and home goods vendors, there’ll be pumpkin carving, apple dipping, and live music on Saturday. On Sunday, there’ll be a performance by Sacred Elevators, featuring Matt McCauley from TV Baby (they brought some weirdness to Hester’s Casual Art Fair earlier this month, as shown in the video above). There’s also gonna be a dance party courtesy of Rockers NYC, Zebrablood, Georgia, Ex Man, and DJ Kiki Kudo. And Brooklyn healer-artist Rachel Howe will offer tarot reading lessons, so you can find out whether there’s seasonal affective disorder in your future.
Queens Night Market
Saturday, Oct. 29, 6pm to midnight, New York Hall of Science, Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Queens.
So you had no idea that Queens also had a bustling food market? This is your last chance to get in on it so you can spend the next months telling your friends, “Smorgasburg is totally for tourists, yo, the real food market is in Queens.” True to its home borough, this is an international affair, with vendors doling out arepa cones, jerk chicken, Trinidadian shark sandwiches, Taiwanese wheel cakes, Chilean street food, Filipino barbecue, Thai chicken wings, Tunisian fricassee, Guatemalan tacos, Brazilian tapioca crepes, and more. For the less adventurous, there’s stuff like “artisanal Twinkies.” But don’t let the word artisanal scare you: All the grub is reasonably priced here, so you’ll make back the subway fare to Flushing Meadows Corona Park.