The general premise is that a big band is set up, a wooden ballroom floor unfolded and dance lessons are provided in the morning. Folks bring their picnic gear and listen to jazz music, purchase food and drinks at the food stands or check out the parade of vintage cars on the lawn. Dress etiquette is generally 1920s but a few folks show up in 1930s and 1940s looks. The crowd has gotten a bit more diverse in the past couple of years so folks in Harlem should really represent and check this one out. Click on images to enlarge. More details and advance $7 tickets ($10 on day of event) may be found on the Michael Arenella Dreamland Orchestra site: LINK
I took my newborn last summer and had a good time! This year I'll be returning with my two sisters who also now reside in Harlem.
ReplyDeleteThe first event has been pushed back to June 25th and June 26th. Click on the above link for details.
ReplyDeleteI went to the Aug 20, 2011 Jazz age party. Overall, it was a great delight to see wonderfully clad people in their jazz age theme and listen to the fabulous live band. I would definitely go again and be more ready by bringing a picnic blanket and prolly bringing my own lunch.
ReplyDeleteHowever, the organization or administration needed a bit more improvement with traffic controlling. There needs to be more signs to direct to open entrances– there were actually three entrances. Most people thought there was only one and we saw people lined up almost half a mile long whereas another line only had 10 people.
Also, there were three people sitting at the entrance table and they were oblivious to the long lines and not getting people in quick. They took their time chatting and fumbling and one person crossing off names manually looking up a list of names while the other two people were doing nothing .(You can divide name lists among three people and find a name faster that way.) In other words, they took all day to just let one person in. I can’t say all of the tables were mismanaged but the third, farthest entrance with the shortest line had some inefficient people sitting there.
I had to buy tickets for drinks and food and the stand in another line to order the food. I felt like my time was spent waiting in lines for half the time I was there. My 10 dollar chicken salad with fruit as a side dish lunch was pretty good which included a nice pineapple pie. My lemonade was tasty until I realized the lady didn’t even check the cup before she filled it up.I had a small pile of tree leaves and dirt at the bottom of my cup. How disgusting! With all the ice, I didn’t see it until I finished my drink. She was the girl at the beer/ lemonade place. Shame on you for giving me a 4 dollar lemonade with dirt in it. I’m assuming you haven’t served drinks outdoors before.
Next time, I will be attending the jazz age lawn party, but I will not be using the vendor services, unless I need bottled water or dessert.