Brooklyn FAM 2022

NEW DATE & VENUE: We are ON!

Join Brooklyn FAM in partnership with Prospect Park Alliance for our 2nd annual flagship festival at Prospect Park's beautiful boathouse. In case of inclement weather, the event will be held entirely indoors.

This year's FAMily-friendly lineup of theater, dance, music, hands-on workshops, and art-making is guaranteed to knock your socks off. The entire program is FREE TO ALL thanks to generous support from individuals and local businesses. Reserve free tickets for priority access to performances and workshops under the pavilion roof.

The letters F-A-M on this year’s poster express the rich diversity of Chinese, South African, Afro-modern, and Caribbean arts featured on the program. May we come together as one 家 (jiā) or “family” to connect and create. The Chinese character 家 also signifies “kin” or “home” and is used to mean “everybody” or “everyone.” 大家(dàjiā), you’re all invited!

Brooklyn FAM 2022 is honored to be emceed by Brooklyn-based Greginald Spencer, who is a singer, recording artist, international entertainer, community activist, and MC of the famed Amateur Night at the Apollo in Harlem.

BYO blanket and picnic, and enjoy a day of connecting, creating, and making new friends!

On the program

• 10:30 a.m.

Chinese Theatre Works's award-winning hand puppet theater with live musicians on the pipa 琵琶 (pee-PAH), guzheng 古筝 (goo-zhang), zhongruan 中阮 (zong-rwan), and drum. Following the theater program, join a festive procession around the pavilion: play an instrument, wave a ribbon, and learn how to animate large-scale lion and dragon puppets. Bring your own instruments to add to the fanfare.

*Chinese Theatre Works is bringing beautifully refurbished large-scale Zhong Kui, lion, and dragon puppets (think Lunar New Year) that were recently on exhibition at the Museum of the City New York!

• 11:30 a.m.

Individual jianzi 毽子 craft activity (pronounced JEN-zuh). Make your own Chinese hacky sack and learn how to do cool tricks with it! (Latecomers can pick up free craft kits from our sharing & games table while supplies last.)

• 11:45 a.m.

Performances by MATHETA Dance set to "Jerusalema," an original arrangement, and "Incubation," an original composition by South African musician Lesédi Ntsane. The pieces were choreographed by Artistic Director Khensani Mathebula specifically for Brooklyn FAM. Lesédi Ntsane's band will accompany MATHETA live for "Incubation," which was commissioned in 2020 by the Jazz Coalition.

The dance performances will be interwoven with two sets by the Lesédi Ntsane Band, featuring band leader Lesédi Ntsane on trumpet, Etsuko Tajima on electronic keyboard, Jephté Guillaume on electric bass, and Xavier Hill on drum kit.

• 12:45 p.m.

A two-part dance workshop led by MATHETA Dance choreographer and artistic director Khensani Mathebula. Learn moves from Khensani's Afro-modern storytelling technique.

• 1:30 p.m.

Drummers Jean Menesky Magloire / Imamou Lele take center stage to perform Haitian tanbou and lead a dynamic audience workshop on 12 tanbou and small Latin percussion. Bring your own drum or container percussion of any size, form, or tradition (a plastic or metal container with a lid works) and come into the circle!

• Throughout the festival, 10:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

The Chair Project

Make your mark on a cool public art project. Led by Brooklyn-based artist Annie Del Hierro, the Chair Project invites everyone to magazine collage on up-cycled wooden chairs and benches to the question "What does FAMily mean to you, to us?" The finished pieces will be installed at local businesses and gathering places as cool functional seating to spark new conversations about connection and community. 

Sharing & Games Table

Pick up a free book or musical instrument courtesy of Brooklyn Book Bodega or a thoughtful, generous neighbor. If you have a book or instrument in good condition to pass along, please place it on the table with your well wishes. Brooklyn FAM will offer art materials and power bank device chargers as well, courtesy of Materials for the Arts. Come, give/take, and enjoy!

At the same station, try your hand (and feet!) at Chinese hacky sack or jianzi 毽子 (pronounced JEN-zuh) and jump rope (跳皮筋; tiàopíjīn, pronounced teeyow-pee-jing) and make new friends at the gaming table.

Coloring Station (tucked under the weeping birch)

Find a comfy spot on the provided picnic blankets, and enjoy the intimacy of the weeping birch while you color. Adult and child coloring pages, crayons, and colored pencils are provided.

• Brooklyn FAM T-shirts

Pick up a limited-edition Brooklyn FAM t-shirt at our festival check-in table! Your sponsorship is essential to ensuring that our programming remains free for all. $35 for adult sizes, $30 for child. We accept cash or Zelle (preferred), Venmo, and PayPal. Brooklyn-based, black-owned, and ultra-wearable Skool Milk Apparel is our exclusive t-shirt partner. All proceeds directly benefit Brooklyn FAM artists in the organization's 501(c)(3) charitable nonprofit work.

Nearest public transit

- B/Q at Prospect Park and 2/5 at Sterling St. subway stations. Prospect Park is an accessible station (with elevators on platforms in both directions).

- Buses 16, 41, 43, 48

Brooklyn FAM 2022 would not be possible without the co-production partnership of Prospect Park Alliance and the financial support of 35 individual and 14 local business sponsors. THANK YOU!