Saturday and Sunday, July 17th and 18th, 11:00 AM- 6:00 PM, $10 admission at Governors Island. For the ultimate "staycation" this weekend, folks in town should take the 1 train to get to Governors Island (from the ferry station) at the south tip of Manhattan and check out the Jazz Age Lawn Party. We went last year and was amazed to see hundreds of people dressed 1920's period appropriate and the Michael Arenella's big band (all dressed in formal attire) out on the lawn. The party is a retro picnic with a ballroom floor in the middle of the lawn. There's a quick dancing lesson in the morning and folks go at it all afternoon. Food vendors, historic sites and vintage cars are part of this event so it is family friendly.Governors Island itself is an 18th century naval enclave that is now a national park. Much of the historic buildings and officers' cottages have been preserved and art installations are common in the old dwellings. There's also bike rentals available for those who want to explore the island and it vistas of the city's waterfront.
For this weekend's main event, the more fashionable dressers will get photographed in all the magazines but its easy enough for the average guys to buy a hat and some khakis or the ladies to get a short summer dress to get in the mood. Jazz is such a historic Harlem thing so folks should come out and represent the nabe. This event is definitely one of the best secret New York things to do in the summer so check it out! Get more information on the Michael Arenella Dreamland Orchestra site: LINK. See our past post on this event from last year: LINK.
I'll be there! Music from the 20s and 30s is among the most important cultural contributions America has made to the 20th century.
ReplyDeletewhere are the black people???? ridiculous, a jazz party in harlem, and no black people.
ReplyDeletePlease note this is on Governor's Island at the southern tip of Manhattan. The crowd is a little more diverse than what the photos show and so we are encouraging Harlem to try to get out and represent a little at this event. Mostly 20 and 30 something crowd but folks in their 50's and 60's have shown up (and actually danced) at this event along with parents and children.
ReplyDeleteGood point. Also note that this is Jazz Age jazz music (i.e., the 1920s). The main influences will be jazz legends like Paul Whiteman, Bing Crosby, Russ Columbo and Al Bowley and composers like Irving Berlin, Cole Porter and George Gershwin.
ReplyDeleteI was there, and the photographers on other websites failed to show that yes people of color were there too, dressed to the nines, looking great, and one more thing, we have fun too! aren't we the majority of NYC.
ReplyDeleteUlysses you are so right! I'm a woman of color, and I was there! We looked great! (the best i might add) ;-)
-Bob is an idiot, he forget all the men of color who "pioneered jazz".
ReplyDelete-hello!?
-Negro Spirituals = Blues = Jazz,
-um : Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, King Oliver, Bessie Smith etc...
- typical Bob, typical (smh)