Stickers, Slipknot and short films: 13 things to do this weekend

By Ethan Jakob Craft

We’re one month away from the official start of summer, but temperatures in Brooklyn will be pushing into the 90s as early as this Saturday, making this weekend the perfect occasion to get out of your sweaty home and go be sweaty around the city. Enjoy a backyard comedy show, watch some of the year’s best short films, or chow down on oysters and chili (separately).

Here’s just a taste of what you can get up to in Brooklyn this weekend:

Friday, May 20

Buy an air conditioner
Now, if you haven’t already
A word of warning: in case you hadn’t already noticed, the city (and entire world) is getting just a bit hotter every year, and this weekend will likely include the first—but not the last—truly sweltering days of 2022. If your apartment, God forbid, doesn’t already come equipped with some form of cooling technology beyond windows that open, consider beating the bulk of the summer rush and buying an A/C unit now. Check out Costco in Sunset Park or Best Buy in Fort Greene and Gravesend, which should carry them.

Scope out the Brooklyn Sticker Show
6 p.m.
Stickers have been as much a part of New York’s rich street art seen as graffiti over the years. This week’s Brooklyn Sticker Show aims to celebrate the ubiquitous medium. Visitors will be treated to piles of stickers from some of the city’s most famous artists, a sticker trade table, a DIY station to make your own, not to mention “weird people” and “friendly artists,” so say the event’s organizers. The four-hour event at Art Apple NYC, just a few blocks south of Atlantic Terminal, is free to attend, though there will also be drinks available and silent auctions to enter.

Rage at Barclays Center with Slipknot
6 p.m.
Slipknot’s limited North American tour, a.k.a. Knotfest Roadshow 2022, is making a stop in Brooklyn this Friday with hip-hop openers Cypress Hill and H09909 (pronounced “horror”). Their upcoming stadium show at Barclays Center is largely sold out, although some scattered tickets are still available online for as little as $60 each at the time of publication. Doors open at 6 p.m.

Watch free films under the stars
7:45 p.m.
For the 26th consecutive year, community-driven film festival Rooftop Films is kicking off the start of summer with a screening of some of the best shorts from the past year. Held at city’s Green-Wood Cemetery, the by-donation event with nine different films on offer—a complete list of which can be found in the event’s online listing—will also feature Q&A sessions with the filmmakers, live music by Brooklyn-based J. Hoard, and a dance performance by 40-and-over troupe The Timeless Torches throughout the night.

Take in a bowling-themed burlesque show
9 p.m.
Well, this event is perhaps not as much “bowling-themed” as “held in a bowling alley,” which would be The Gutter bar-and-lanes combo in Williamsburg, but Betty Brash’s Ten Pin Tease will not be short on the glitz and glamor. Featuring a line up of some of New York’s most dazzling burlesque and go-go performers, Saturday’s show promises everything from unique performances to raffle prizes, so check it out. Tickets are $17 per person; doors open at 9 p.m., 30 minutes before the actual show starts.

Saturday, May 21

Chow down on all-you-can-eat chili
1 p.m.
A group of Texan expats is hosting their annual Texas Chili Cook-Off this Saturday in Brooklyn, and the they need your culinary expertise (or lack thereof) to decide which competitors will be crowned Chili Champions. Held in Industry City—the cook-off’s largest venue to date—the hybrid indoor-outdoor event will run all afternoon and feature live music and DJ performances throughout, on top of the all-you-can-stomach chili, queso and “Texas beverages.” Last call tickets are $70 each, or $125 for a VIP package that includes a runner to bring you your food and the right to judge some of the teams; entry for non-drinking youth, or those 20 and under, is significantly less.

Enjoy a day of African dance, music and poetry
1 p.m.
Join the Billie Holiday Theater and Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Dance Africa Festival on Saturday for an afternoon celebration of the duo’s 25th annual Community Day. Live music, dance performances and spoken word poetry are just a few of the highlights that’ll be on offer, as well as an awards ceremony honoring those who have made Dance Africa possible over the past quarter-century. The event, which will be held at Restoration Plaza near the corner of Fulton Street and New York Avenue in Bed-Stuy, is free and open to the public. Additional details can be found online.

Win epic prizes at a Dumbo-wide block party
3 p.m.
Dumbo Drop is back in-person for 2022, and bringing with a set of raffles that’ll give New Yorkers chance to win prizes including a $1,000 Dumbo shopping spree, a staycation package at the neighborhood’s five-star 1Hotel, an ice cream party for up to 25 people catered by Oddfellows, and much more. Entries are $20 each and while you don’t need to be present to win, it is recommended, because the draws will coincide with a Dumbo-wide from 3 to 8 p.m. that will boast live music, DJs, kids’ areas, and “accessibly priced” food and drink deals.

Infiltrate a secret backyard comedy show
8 p.m.
Somewhere in Park Slope this Saturday evening, there will be a clandestine stand-up show with a roster of top comics, held in a backyard whose location will only be disclosed to those who snap up the limited amount of $5 tickets. (Though how secret can it be if it’s posted on Eventbrite, right?) The performance is specifically advertised as BYOB and it will be held outdoors. Saturday’s forecast shows the city will be pushing 90º Fahrenheit, so attendees should be in for gorgeous temperatures by sundown.

Sunday, May 22

Celebrate the Haitian flag (and Haitian culture, in general)
10 a.m.
This past Wednesday was Flag Day in Haiti, and to honor the heritage and culture of the Caribbean nation, head to the borough’s Little Haiti neighborhood this Sunday for a slightly belated celebration of Haitian food, music and art. Running from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at 1758 Nostrand Avenue, a few blocks from the Newkirk Av-Little Haiti subway stop on lines 2 and 5, this event is free to attend

Fill your afternoon with family fun
12 p.m.
Atlantic Terminal Mall and Brooklyn Bridge Parents have teamed up to offer a free afternoon of fun to families in the city this Sunday. Held at the mall’s outdoor plaza from noon to 4 p.m., this weekend’s Family Fun Fest boasts over 15 all-ages activities including arts and crafts, dance classes, bicycle riding lessons, a bouncy castle and more. Families are also encouraged to bring their children’s bikes and scooters, because neighboring Fort Greene Place will be closed to vehicle traffic throughout the day. Additional information can be found in the event’s web listing.

Get fabulous for the Blair Bitch Project
1 p.m.
If you need to give your Sunday a bit of oomph, head to East Williamsburg Mexican restaurant Palomas Bk on Sunday afternoon for the “Blair Bitch,” a “FIERCE” drag brunch with several hilarious dancing queens. Tickets for this two-hour extravaganza will run you $55 a pop, though that does include your brunch entree and bottomless alcoholic drinks.

Build your appetite for Oyster Fest
2 p.m.
After a Covid-related hiatus, Brooklyn Crab’s annual Oyster Fest is back this year with a selection of oysters from around the world and unlimited beer and wine to pair them with. Held at this Red Hook seafood staple on Reed Street, Sunday’s three-hour festival of mollusks won’t be short on food, so come hungry; entry for the true oyster connoisseur is $75 per person.