Burlesque, books, bagels and beer: 11 things to do this weekend

By Mags Chmielarczyk

This weekend the borough welcomes a variety of outdoor festivities to help you make the most of that ephemeral Fall weather. Kick-off Halloween season at the most popular Brooklyn Pumpkin Patch, sample the highest caliber of bagels at BagelFest, or sip from 60 samples of beer at the annual Blocktoberfest.

Here’s the rundown:

Friday, October 1

New York Burlesque Festival
7:30 p.m.
Celebrate the 19th annual New York Burlesque Festival with their premiere party at the Brooklyn Bowl. This infamous bash is hosted by magician Albert Cadabra and burlesque veteran Shelly Watson, and features over 20 dancers with live music by Thrilldriver and DJ Fresh Prince of Darkness. Tickets are $20

The Bowery Presents BLXST
9 p.m.
BLXST’s No Love Lost Tour is arriving in Brooklyn this weekend at the Music Hall of Williamsburg. The LA based rapper-singer-producer is headlining for the first time following the release of his debut EP last year. Tickets start at $20, and a mystery guest will open.

Saturday, October 2

7th Annual East Brooklyn 5K Run
8 a.m.
Get moving with East New York Restoration at their annual 5K run. The race begins in Spring Creek Park at Gateway Mall and there are prizes for the top three male and female finishers. Walkers and families are welcome, and registration costs $10.

Brooklyn BagelFest
9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Pop over to City Point in Downtown Brooklyn to get carbo loaded at Brooklyn’s second annual bagel festival. For $35, guests can sample 20+ top-notch bagels & a selection of Brooklyn Brews, play bagel yard games, see Kosha Dillz live, attend a “Bagel Experts” panel discussion, enter into raffles & giveaways, and more!

Cascade: A Jen Stark Experience
10 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Immerse yourself in Jen Stark’s most ambitious project to date: 6,000 square feet of interactive projections, paintings, sculptures, and 3-D mapped environments. This psychedelic exhibition can be found at The William Vale Hotel in Williamsburg through October 24, and tickets start at $25.

Blocktoberfest 2021
1 to 4:30 p.m.
The annual festival celebrating New York beer is back in person. Blocktoberfest will be outdoors at the Brooklyn Navy Yard with a block-party in the yard behind Building 77, right by the NYC Ferry launch. Tickets start at $60 and include samples of 60 different styles of locally brewed beer. Blocktoberfest is joined by DJ Reborn and a host of NYC food pop-ups/trucks, including Empanada Papa, Divine Flavored, Chop Shop Food Truck and Miss Holly’s Smokehouse.

Brooklyn Museum Artist’s Eye: Baseera Khan
2 to 3 p.m.
Baseera Khan’s first solo exhibition, I Am an Archive, opens this weekend at the Brooklyn Museum with a bold display of multimedia installations, sculptures, textiles, and video art. The artist will lead a walkthrough of the exhibition on Saturday, as part of the Museum’s series of intimate, in-gallery talks by contemporary artists. Tickets are $16

Machinedrum at Elsewhere Hall
7 to 10 p.m.
Musical polymath Travis Stewart brings his meditative EP “Psyconia” and 2020 record “A View of U” to the stage at Elsewhere. Stewart, who makes up one half of Sepalcure, with Praveen Sharma, and one half of JETS, with Jimmy Edgar, is not one to miss. This event is 16+ and tickets are $25.

Live Opera at The Muse: Cav + Pag
8 p.m.
Catch the final performance of Cav + Pag, an operatic ‘mash-up’ of the traditional double bill of Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci. A cast of New York artists are accompanied by a chamber orchestra in this super-condensed look at two classic verismo operas. Presented by New Camerata Opera at The Muse in Bushwick. $40

Sunday, October 3

Brooklyn Book Festival Day
10 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Brooklyn Book Festival’s daylong celebration is packed with free events on multiple stages in Downtown Brooklyn. The festival runs every hour and features fiction, poetry, non-fiction, comics, graphic novels, and young adult authors. Make sure to stop by Cadman Plaza for the outdoor Literary Marketplace and browse thousands of books by publishers from across the country.

Pumpkin Picking Weekends
11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Already gearing up for Halloween? Bring the whole family to Green Meadows Farm Brooklyn to enjoy the most visited pumpkin patch in NYC, open every weekend through October 31. There’s friendly animals to pet, a hayride, and hundreds of pumpkins to choose from. Admission costs $12