Flatbush food, Fifth Ave fair and farmers’ markets: 13 things to do this weekend

By Ethan Jakob Craft

Feeling lucky? Try your hand at good ol’ fashioned bingo. Feeling impulsive? Get yourself a $13 tattoo on the first Friday the 13th of the year. Hungry? Roam the streets of Flatbush, sampling the best of the neighborhood’s restaurants. Or maybe you’re feeling confident enough in your board game skills to enter NYC Catan’s last U.S. Nationals Qualifying Tournament of the year.

There’s plenty going on this weekend, no matter how you’re feeling, so get to it. 

Friday, May 13

Get a tattoo
All day long
This week happens to include the first Friday the 13th of 2022. That gives New Yorkers a prime opportunity to score a good deal on a tattoo, because beyond the date’s association with classics like “Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan,” it is also well-known for specials at tattoo shops across the country—think $13 flash designs, or 31 percent off a custom design. If you’re looking to get some local ink, check out some of the one-day-only deals at Brooklyn parlors including Live By The Sword Tattoo in Williamsburg, NYC Tattoo Shop in Greenpoint, and Electric Lotus Tattoo in Fort Greene, just to name a few.

Experience an experimental opera
7:30 p.m.
Off-Brand Opera is staging its first-ever show this Friday and it’s starting off strong with Spark, a two-hour experimental opera that pulls from centuries of music, song and choreography. “Entirely comprised of new and newly-transformed work,” from world premieres to reimagined classics, the first-ever performance can be seen at the Soapbox Gallery in Prospect Heights on both Friday and Saturday nights; it’s $30 per person for general admission or $40 each for VIP tickets, which include two free alcoholic drinks.

Shout ‘bingo!’
8 p.m.
For your fix of beer, wine, sake and cider (and bingo) this Friday night, head to Nook on Irving Avenue in Bushwick, which is hosting an open-to-the-public bingo event replete with “laughs, competition, and prizes,” according the event’s online listing. Hosted by “David’s mom”—ostensibly referring to David Feiger, the guy who established the space a few years ago—Bubbe’s Bingo Night at Nook is free to attend, although the listing does advise guests to arrive early to make sure they get a seat.

Saturday, May 14

Prove your mettle on the island of Catan
9:30 a.m.
If you, like us, spent the bulk of your early Covid lockdowns playing Catan with your roommates, then this weekend will give you a chance to demonstrate your settling and road-building skills, because NYC Catan is hosting its final U.S. Nationals Qualifier Tournament of the year. Styled as a two-day playoff, with the winner guaranteed a seat at the American Catan championship in Ohio, entry for the qualifying round at the Brooklyn Game Lab in Park Slope is $30 per player.

Peruse local vendors along Graham Avenue
10 a.m.
This Saturday, several blocks along Graham Avenue (a.k.a. Avenue of Puerto Rico) in Williamsburg will be closed to traffic for the 17th annual Graham Avenue Fiesta, which is bringing over 200 vendors and merchants to this all-day street fair that will also include Latino live music, dance performances, kids’ rides and a scavenger hunt. Hosted by the local Business Improvement District, this free family-friendly event runs until 6 p.m. on Saturday, rain or shine.

Take your kids to a block party
11 a.m.
Back by popular demand, the Bklyn Indoor Block Party is making a return—and it will also be featuring an outdoor component, weather permitting. Held indoors at City Point and outdoors at neighboring Albee Square, this family-friendly downtown event hosted by Brooklyn Bridge Parents is ideal for children ages 1 to 12; activities on offer include Lego building, live music, a bouncy castle, arts and crafts, and the Brooklyn Library Kids Mobile. Entry to the four-hour family bonanza is free, though you can pre-register to attend online.

Taste the best food Flatbush has to offer
12 p.m.
If you missed out on the inaugural Tastes of Bed-Stuy food and drink crawl a couple of weeks ago, don’t worry, because a similar event is going down this weekend in Flatbush. At least 20 local restaurants have signed on for this year’s all-day event, including but not limited to Peppa’s Jerk Chicken, Amy Thai Bistro and Ix Guatemalan cuisine; a full map of participating eateries is available on Tastes of Brooklyn’s website. Tickets for Saturday’s Flatbush food fair are $35 for four “tastes,” or $100 for 12, allowing participants to bounce between restaurants at their own pace.

National day of action for abortion access
12 p.m.
Part of a larger mass mobilization across the country, organizers plan to gather in Cadman Plaza before marching across the Brooklyn Bridge in a display of support for abortion access. Attendees are encouraged to bring pots and pans to bang in the style of Latin American “Cacerolazo” protests, and the color green in clothing and bandanas is requested to show solidarity and alignment with the La Ola Verde / The Green Wave abortion movement. The march will conclude at Foley Square for a “Welcome Village,” a live activation embodying the spirit of New York State serving as an access state where all people seeking an abortion can get one.

Flout your Christian morals
10 p.m.
This Saturday, Dromedary Urban Tiki Bar in Bushwick is hosting “Satanic Panic,” which it’s billing as “a Drag celebration of Heavy Metal, High Fantasy, and the ensuing moral panic amongst Christian mothers,” according to the bar’s web listing of randomly capitalized words. Also featuring a live DJ, go-go dancers and a roster of drag queens, this alt event runs until 2 a.m. on Sunday; entry is by a suggested donation of $10.

Sunday, May 15

Check out a local farmers’ market
10 a.m.
The annual McGlorick Park Summer Farmers’ Market returns to Brooklyn this Sunday, with a host of Brooklyn-based food, produce and plant vendors converging on this leafy Greenpoint park to showcase their wares. The forecast for Sunday calls for mostly sunny skies and a high of 73º, so consider swinging by; it’s free to attend and runs until 2 p.m. just about every Sunday through the end of the summer.

Stroll along the Fabulous 5th Avenue Fair
10 a.m.
A massive stretch of 5th Avenue between Sterling Place and 12th Street will be closed off in Park Slope this Sunday for the annual Fabulous 5th Avenue Fair, bringing the best of the area’s restaurants, bars, artists, classic cars and nonprofits out for one community-driven street fair. The event is free for patrons and runs until 6 p.m.; if you’re not local to Park Slope, there are subway stops on the R, F and G lines just a block away from the action.

Enjoy a Beanie Baby comedy show
7 p.m.
If you’re looking for the most unique comedy crossover in Brooklyn this weekend, you may find it at Young Ethel’s bar in South Slope, where a stand-up show with comedians from the likes of Comedy Central and “Saturday Night Live” are paired, you guessed it, with a vintage Beanie Baby giveaway. The show runs until 8:30 p.m. on Sunday night and it’s free to attend, though organizers do suggest a donation of $5 to support the comics and help offset the cost of your plush, ’90s throwback door prize. Go for the jokes, stay for the Beanie Babies.

Go see Oh Wonder at Brooklyn Steel
8 p.m.
Well the title pretty much says it all, doesn’t it? English pop duo Oh Wonder—who collectively boast over 1 billion downloads on Spotify alone—is continuing their U.S. tour with a stop in East Williamsburg this weekend, playing iconic local venue Brooklyn Steel at 8 p.m. with Swedish singer-songwriter Winona Oak. It’s a 16-and-over show, with general admission tickets still available online for $35 a pop.