Canoeing trips and cannabis magic: 13 things to do this weekend

By Ethan Jakob Craft

This weekend is good for, if no one else, the hungry: think local farmers markets, Italian cooking classes, guided tours of some of Williamsburg’s most unique eateries, and a faux national holiday that encourages guilt-free ice cream consumption — not to mention “Smokus Pocus,” a stoner’s dream of a magic show that might (temporarily) distract attendees from the munchies.

Though if chowing down isn’t your thing, don’t worry; our round-up of things to do this weekend features a little bit of everything that’s great about New York, so if you’d rather canoe through Jamaica Bay or dance under a full moon or wander through a cemetery at night, that’s all possible too.

Brooklyn is your oyster, dear reader. Go feast.

Friday, July 15

Check out a Japanese artisans market
11:30 a.m.
The Ippin Project Pop-Up Market is coming to Brooklyn this Friday, giving shoppers the chance to shop genuine Japanese-made goods from home decor to tableware at Japan Village, on the 2nd floor of Building 4 in Industry City. Running until 6:30 in the evening, the market will also showcase some Japanese architectural displays dedicated to washi wall coverings and kumiko wood screens; and it’ll continue to open throughout this weekend and next until July 31, so don’t sweat it if you can’t make it this Friday.

Eat your way through Williamsburg
12 p.m.
No matter how gentrified and/or overpriced, it’s hard to dispute the culinary diversity available in Williamsburg — and that’s exactly what the Williamsburg Bites food tour is capitalizing on this Friday. Starting at lunchtime and running for roughly three hours, this guided walking tour starts at 218 Bedford Avenue and winds its way past several Williamsburg institutions including Northside Bakery for Polish pierogi, Mable’s Smokehouse of Oklahoma-style BBQ, and slices from a “NY Times recommended pizzeria and true hidden gem.” Adult tickets are $68 each, while children up to the age of 10 can attend for $58.

Get stoned and watch a magic show
8 p.m.
Rarely does an event name itself as perfectly as “Smokus Pocus: A 420 Magic Show,” which teases a night of mind-reading and vanishing acts — or in its own words, “a magical extravaganza … packed with tricks so trippy that you’ll be asking ‘what the f—?!’” — that both the stoned and sober can enjoy. It’s happening at 35 Meadow Street in East Williamsburg on both Friday and Saturday night; general admission tickets are $40 each while priority seating in the first two rows is $60. Go for the jokes, stay for the tokes.

Connect with the cosmos at a full moon dance party
10 p.m.
“Align your vibe with the surreal spirits in the celestial glow,” House of Yes says, and come celebrate the full moon at the iconic Bushwick nightclub’s interstellar party; Friday’s music will be by Hyenah and Rimarkable, and encouraged looks range from “Astrological Fantasy” to “Crystalline Commanders.” The cheapest tickets are already sold out, but general admission for this late-night event can be had for $30 or $35 — depending on when you buy — or just $20 if you’re cool with entering after 1:30 a.m.

Saturday, July 16

Head to a local farmers market
9 a.m.
The East New York Farmers Market is on this weekend, representing a push by United Community Centers to organize local youth and adults alike around combatting food inequality and promoting sustainable agriculture. The market runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the 613 New Lots Avenue community center, just a few blocks west of the New Lots Avenue subway station on lines 2, 3 and 4.

Try your hand(s) at canoeing in Jamaica Bay
10 a.m.
Brooklyn’s own Sebago Canoe Club is hosting one of its semi-annual open houses this Saturday, inviting the public to experience a short, guided canoe or kayak trip of approximately 30 minutes in Jamaica Bay. The tour kicks off from the club’s Paerdegat Avenue headquarters in Canarsie, and while advanced $5 tickets have already sold out, there will be limited amounts of walk-up tickets available for the voyages until 1 p.m. or while supplies last. And if you just can’t get enough of the JFK Airport-adjacent estuary, there’s also the all-ages Jamaica Bay Festival happening Saturday afternoon in nearby Shirley Chisholm State Park.

‘The Art of Sola’
12 to 6 p.m.
An art walk, jazz shows and horse rides will dot the length of Lewis Avenue’s new Open Street this weekend. On Saturday, “The Art Of Sola” art fair will display artwork from more than 20 Black and minority artists from the area, hosted by artist and author Joseph C. Grant Jr. Featured artists include Lyndon “McCrayola” McCray, Tonia A. Townes, Glori B., and more. Live music starts at 2:30. Free. Lewis Avenue from Fulton to Jefferson.

BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn: Chicano Batman | Charlotte Dos Santos
Doors at 6:30 p.m
L.A.-based Chicano Batman is touring on the back of their 2021 album “Invisible People,” which incorporates elements of psychedelic soul, hip-hop beats, krautrock, and Nigerian synth funk. Opener Charlotte Dos Santos, a Brazilian-Norwegian singer, is similarly musically omnivorous, veering between jazz, neo soul, South American traditions, and samples. Free at the Lena Horne Bandshell in Prospect Park.

Tour Green-Wood Cemetery after dark
7:30 p.m.
The borough’s massive Green-Wood Cemetery is known for, among other things, having no shortage of themed tours spanning its 478 acres—but few tours are likely as eerie as this Saturday’s nighttime trek through the graveyard long after it’s closed to the public for the day. Running for two hours and weaving between the graves of some true American icons, this tour ends with a visit to Green-Wood’s catacombs, which are usually off-limits to visitors. Tickets are available for $30 each, though the same “after dark” excursion runs a few more times this summer if you can’t make it on Saturday.

Sunday, July 17

Score some free ice cream
Various times and locations
Thanks to former president Ronald Reagan — one of the few times you’ll ever hear that phrase here — every third Sunday in July is National Ice Cream Day, and a handful of Brooklyn purveyors are celebrating with deals and giveaways across the borough. Carvel, which was founded in New York nine decades ago, is offering a nationwide buy-one-get-one deal this Sunday, while Whole Foods is giving away free taco-inspired ice cream from Camila Alves McConaughey to the first 500 shoppers at its Gowanus store between 1 and 4 p.m.

Enjoy a family-friendly afternoon of games
12 p.m.
Young Brooklynites between the ages of 2 and 10 and, by default, their parents, are invited to City Point this Sunday, when the shopping center will host an afternoon of games and activities including Lego and block building, foam sword battles and a Beyblade tournament. The price is free, the time is from noon to 3 p.m., and the location is City Point’s ground floor hallway.

Indulge in some boozy brunch at a baseball game
1:30 p.m.
This season, the Coney Island Cyclones have been using their Maimonides Park rooftop as a venue for the occasional Sunday brunch package, the next of which is available this Sunday afternoon when the Greensboro Grasshoppers are in town for a four-game run. For $59 each, guests 21-and-over can enjoy bottomless beer, mimosas and Bloody Marys — plus an array of continental breakfast standards — while they watch nine innings of High-A fun from their rooftop perch; brunch service starts at 1:30 p.m., while the game starts 30 minutes later.

Learn how to make gnocchi from scratch
7 p.m.
If you’re an Italian food lover, then head to Bat Haus in Williamsburg on Sunday evening for a hands-on (and BYOB) dinner class that promises to teach you how to make the delicious potato dumplings and a few basic sauces from scratch, “just like Nonna.” Covering basics like reducing liquids over heat and working with a roux, participants of any and no experience level are invited to take part and enjoy their fresh gnocchi as a group at the end of the two-hour course. Tickets are $59 per person, which includes all the ingredients you’ll need to prep the meal.