It’s July, so it must be time for the Afropunk Festival. My hat’s off to James Spooner and Matthew Morgan for the 10 days of music, film and skating that they’re about to present from July 4 thru July 13. It’s pretty massive:
- Nearly 40 bands
- 15 films
- a skate park featuring 30 pro BMX riders and 15 pro skaters from around the country
- Guest DJs including a special set by the legendary Afrika Bambaataa
- Q&A with the great Ruby Dee immediately following the screening of Uptight
The festival is FREE, and will take place at the following locations in Brooklyn, mostly centralized around the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM):
- Skate Park – GGMC parking lot
adjacent to BAM at Lafayette Avenue and Ashland Place. - Ft. Greene Park – Corner of Dekalb Avenue and Washington Park
- Block Party – Clinton Avenue betw. Myrtle and Willoughby
Get your calendar out and plot your activities. There’s lots to do and see. For example, a smart thing for me to do would be to focus on checking out the bands that I haven’t seen before, which would mean blowing off killer acts like Janelle Monae, The Smyrk, Tamar-kali, Game Rebellion and Bazaar Royale and instead finally get to see others I’ve heard a lot about like J*Davey, Whole Wheat Bread, No Surrender, The Dirtbombs, and McRad. Yeah, gotta make some decisions here.
You’ll find more info at the Afropunk site.
