Brooklyn Pride Weekend: 19 things to do

By Joshua Encinias

This weekend brings Brooklyn Pride, Governors Ball and, best of all, the return of “Paramount+ Movie Nights in Brooklyn.”

Brooklyn Magazine is back with our annual movies in the park series in partnership with Paramount+ and BSE Global with a screening of “Zoolander” at sundown on Friday — get there early to grab a spot. Meanwhile, The Brooklyn Film Festival enters its final weekend of screenings on Friday, and Shakespeare’s “Love Labor’s Lost” comes to Carroll Park every weekend this month. Oh, and Godzilla celebrates his 70th birthday at Baby’s All Right late on Friday night.

Saturday brings an LGBTQIA+ fun run in the morning. Rest up and break out our your glitter pen because The Brooklyn Pride Festival is Saturday afternoon. And stick around because the northeast’s only nighttime Pride Parade steps off on Fifth Avenue in Park Slope that night. The BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! summer season kicks off on Saturday afternoon, too.

Wind the weekend down with the Knickerbocker Avenue Puerto Rican Parade in Bushwick on Sunday afternoon, then check out Lady Bunny’s Pride Tea Dance at C’mon Everybody.

Friday, June 7

‘Zoolander’ in McCarren Park
6 p.m., movie starts at sundown
Brooklyn Magazine, in partnership with Paramount+ and BSE Global, is bringing back “Paramount+ Movie Nights in Brooklyn” with with “Zoolander” in McCarren Park. See the full summer lineup here. All showtimes are at sunset, but come early with your friends or your kids to scope out your spot. New for this year, complimentary popcorn will be available for attendees at each screening with proof of event RSVP confirmation, which can be completed online at www.bkmag.com/movies (first-come, first-served, while supplies last).

Governors Ball
Friday through Sunday
New York’s biggest party is bringing Post Malone, The Killers, SZA, Rauw Alejandro, 21 Savage, Peso Pluma and many more to Flushing Meadows Corona Park this weekend. Limited Friday & Saturday GA, GA+ & VIP tickets are available now but won’t last long — grab yours before they’re officially gone.

Brooklyn Film Festival’s final weekend
The festival runs through June 9
The 27th Brooklyn Film Festival returns with 138 new movies from all over the world. Not sure you want to sit through a bunch of feature-length movies and docs? The fest also has shorts and animated projects for every taste. Movies will play at Windmill Studios, Wythe Hotel and online. Come see what festival programmers have cooked up for this year’s edition. Various ticket packages are available.

Photoville continues
Runs through June 16
Brooklyn Bridge Park is once again the hub of this annual two-week event photographic extravaganza, which begins Saturday, with free open-air exhibitions, interactive workshops and those iconic shipping containers repurposed as mini-galleries. The grand opening weekend takes place at the Emily Warren Roebling Plaza with family-friendly activities and photography workshops for professionals and amateurs alike. Art will be for sale and food will be available from the Smorgasburg Pop-Up. See Photoville’s website for more details about this weekend and beyond. Emily Warren Roebling Plaza inside Brooklyn Bridge Park. Check out our preview. Free

Brooklyn Pride Opening Party
5 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Take your Pride celebration to new heights at Harriet’s Rooftop. Join in the fun on Friday with special guests Karsten Sollors, Mascari, Ben Wild, plus live performances by Justice LaBrave and host Mo’Riah for a vibrant soirée. A portion of proceeds will support wayOUT, a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering gender-expansive youth through community investment and LGBTQ+ youth support programs, championing acceptance and authenticity. 60 Furman Street. Tickets start at $18.

Alan Braufman at National Sawdust
7:30 p.m.
Alto saxophonist and flutist Alan Braufman will perform music from his new album “Infinite Love Infinite Tears” as well as “Valley of Search” and “The Fire Still Burns.” Braufman will be joined by his band featuring Patricia Brennan, Ken Filiano, Brandon Woody and Newman Taylor Baker. Cooper-Moore will support with a solo piano set. 80 N 6th Street. Tickets are $25.

‘Love Labor’s Lost’ comes to Carroll Park in June
Shows are every Thursday to Sunday from June 7 to 23
While Shakespeare in the Park at the Delacorte Theater takes a pause this summer, theatergoers can head to Brooklyn’s Caroll Park for a free month-long run of its own outdoor Shakespeare production of “Love Labor’s Lost” by Smith Street Stage — the mainstage production for their 14th season. With its mission to present Shakespeare in new and accessible ways, this production places the work from the 1590s to the summer of 2024, delving into the nuances of gender and sexuality against a backdrop of guilty pleasures of our reality TV and social media world. Carroll Park is located at Court Street and Smith Street, between Carroll Street and President Street in the Carroll Gardens neighborhood of Brooklyn, and accessible by F/G trains to Carroll Street, the A, C, F, and R trains to Jay Street Metro-tech, or the 2, 3, 4, 5 to Borough Hall.

Brooklyn Storehouse opening night with Eric Prydz
10 p.m. to 5 a.m.
TCE Presents and Broadwick Live’s new collaborative venue, the Brooklyn Storehouse. The 104,000 square-foot venue opens on Friday night at the Brooklyn Navy Yard with performances by Eric Prydz and Cristoph. The show is hosted by NYC underground events promoter, Teksupport. Keep an eye out for events at the venue. They plan to continuously reconfigure and transform the space for every type of communal event. Assembly Road, Brooklyn Navy Yard, 11205. Tickets are $69.

Tribeca Festival and Toho Presents: Godzilla’s 70th Anniversary
10 p.m.
Tribeca Music Lounge and Escape From Tribeca will host a dance party at Baby’s All Right in honor of The 70th Anniversary of “Godzilla: The King of the Monsters.” In partnership with Toho International, this one-of-a-kind extravaganza will feature a curated collection of epic Godzilla footage, signature drinks, giveaways, and costumes, paired with music by superstar DJ Takuya Nakamura, performances by AnChikSho and the legendary all-female Japanese rock band, Hard Nips, as well as self-described “Fake Scientist” Shyaporn Theerakulstit presenting his hilarious Nerd Nite lecture, “Godzilla: History, Biology and Behavior of Hyper-Evolved Theropod Kaiju.” 146 Broadway. Tickets are $30.

Saturday, June 8

Brooklyn Pride LGBTQIA+ 5K Run/Walk
10 a.m. to 12 p.m.
What better way to start off your Brooklyn Pride Saturday than with a morning 5K LGBTQIA+ fun run? You’ll be joined by hundreds of runners as you race through scenic and historic Prospect Park. The race is sponsored by Front Runners New York. 95 Prospect Park W. Registration is $35.

Brooklyn Pride Festival
11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The immensely popular Brooklyn Pride Parade & Festival is on Saturday. The all-day festival showcases queer performers on the Brooklyn Pride Main Stage and affirming local restaurants, stores, and bars in the neighborhood. Fifth Avenue between Union and 9th Streets. Free.

Queer Art Summerfest
2 to 8 p.m.
The fourth annual Queer Art Summerfest comes to 3 Dollar Bill on Saturday. Featuring a market with 35+ Queer vendors plus the gayest lineup of performers this side of Coney Island, come to see Glow Job, and stay for Cholula Lemon. Performances will be ongoing throughout the day, along with complimentary non-alcoholic beverages provided by Guayaki, free and confidential HIV/HCV/STI testing by GMHC, plus, if you arrive early, you receive a gift bag. The event is strictly 21+. 260 Meserole Street. Free.

BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Opening Weekend
4 p.m.
Saturday is Family Day at BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Come enjoy an afternoon of music at the Lena Horne Bandshell that defies conventions and sparks your imagination. Headliner The Halluci Nation, formerly known as A Tribe Called Red, will dazzle your ears with their Indigenous-inspired electronica. Openers Xiuhtezcatl and Asase Yaa Youth Ensemble take you on a musical journey, from Xiuhtezcatl’s raw lyricism to the vibrant rhythms of Asase Yaa’s African drumming. Bring your whole family and enjoy fun activities on the lawn at this all-ages event. 141 Prospect Park W.

Big Summer Pride Twirl
4 to 9 p.m.
Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy’s Big Summer Pride Twirl is a free, all-ages dance party that celebrates Brooklyn Pride and is held at Pier 3 Plaza at Brooklyn Bridge Park. Attendees are invited to join in the festivities with Papi Juice & Friends, featuring DJ sets by New York City luminary Venus X and dynamic duo Kia, plus a performance by Essa Noche. 334 Furman Street.

Twilight Pride Parade
7:30 to 10:30 p.m.
Couldn’t get it together for the Pride Festival? The Northeast’s only evening Pride parade follows just a couple hours later. Floats and marchers will skip, twirl, and twerk their way down Fifth Avenue between Lincoln and Eighth Streets. Grand marshals for the Twilight Pride Parade include Dr. Sandra Scott and Tiq. Get your absolute freak on in the streets on Saturday night.

Hot Gossip Comedy Show
8 p.m.
Comedian and local gossip Jonathan van Halem (Clickhole) pauses his perpetual gab-sesh to discuss audience-generated gossip as well as host an evening of stand-up comedy at Littlefield. This month’s show features a fantastic line-up, including Judah Friedlander (“30 Rock”), Pat Regan (“Hacks”), Depths of Wikipedia, Hotel Art Thief and Jo Sunday. 635 Sackett Street. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door.

Sunday, June 9

Pride Brunch with Shequida and friends
12 to 4:30 p.m.
In celebration of Brooklyn Pride weekend, Fandi Mata, the Mediterranean restaurant in Williamsburg, will host a drag brunch on Sunday. If you’re hungover from the Twilight Brooklyn Pride Parade, you can soak up last night’s mistakes at brunch, or just keep the party going with hosts Shequida and Essa Nuche. A portion of the proceeds will go to The Trevor Project. 74 Bayard Street.

Knickerbocker Avenue Puerto Rican Parade
3 p.m.
Celebrate Puerto Rican culture and heritage in Bushwick at the Knickerbocker Avenue Puerto Rican Day Parade on Sunday. The event is free and open to everyone, and features marching, singing, and dancing as part of a giant street party. This year’s theme is “Somos el corazón de nuestra comunidad,” which translates to “We Are The Heart of Our Community!” Kickoff is at Knickerbocker and Menahan Avenues.

Lady Bunny’s Disco Tea Dance
4 p.m.
The bitch is back in Brooklyn … and she’s doing an early show because she’s old as hell. Come see New York icon Lady Bunny play her favorite disco tracks at this classic Tea Dance on Sunday. And for a taste of Bunny’s humor, check out our conversation. Grab your gays, gals, and theys, and hit the dance floor at C’mon Everybody. 21+. 325 Franklin Avenue. Tickets are $17.