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This Week­end on Gov­er­nors Island: African Film Fes­ti­val, Plus May­or Bloomberg Breaks Ground on The Hills!

Jul 31, 2013 2:37 pm
[cap­tion id=“attachment_7168” align=“aligncenter” width=“300”]Courtesy African Film Festival, Inc. Cour­tesy African Film Fes­ti­val, Inc.[/caption] This week­end, August 3 — 4, kicks off a new month of sum­mer fun on Gov­er­nors Island with cul­tur­al events and hands-on expe­ri­ences for all ages! This Sun­day, the African Film Fes­ti­val cel­e­brates Fam­i­ly Day on Gov­er­nors Island by shar­ing an up-close and per­son­al intro­duc­tion to the cul­ture of the African con­ti­nent. Join us on Colonel’s Row from 12 pm to 5 pm for a great selec­tion of rich and vibrant cul­tur­al activ­i­ties for kids and adults alike, includ­ing free films, African dance class­es, sto­ry­telling, and African cui­sine. [cap­tion id=“attachment_7169” align=“aligncenter” width=“300”]Rendering Courtesy West 8 Ren­der­ing Cour­tesy West 8[/caption] Gov­er­nors Island also made head­lines last week when May­or Bloomberg offi­cial­ly broke ground for The Hills, a new phase of the new park and open space plan that will high­light the trans­formed South Island. Rang­ing up to 80 feet in height with panoram­ic views of New York Har­bor, the spec­tac­u­lar ren­der­ings of The Hills by West 8 are gen­er­at­ing excite­ment around New York. Look­ing to the right from the view­ing plat­form under­neath Liggett Arch offers a glimpse at where The Hills will stand, just remem­ber to say hel­lo to the Stat­ue of Lib­er­ty! With so much planned for the future of Gov­er­nors Island, there’s plen­ty to look for­ward to even beyond this weekend’s attrac­tions. Remem­ber, the East Riv­er Fer­ry is a great way to get from Queens, Brook­lyn, and Mid­town to Gov­er­nors Island. Check the full sched­ule to plan your next trip! Haven’t been out to Gov­er­nors Island yet this sum­mer? This is the per­fect week­end to check out some of our unique ongo­ing exhibits. Fête Par­adiso in Nolan Park, the FIG­MENT tree house and artist-made minigolf on the Parade Ground, and LMCC’s exhibits in Build­ing 110, just to name a few. Oth­er Events This Week­end Include:
  • Fête Par­adiso, 10:30 am to 6:30 pm, Nolan Park: For the first time in the US, a spec­tac­u­lar col­lec­tion of vin­tage French car­ni­val rides is open to the pub­lic here on Gov­er­nors Island! The Parisian expe­ri­ence is free to vis­i­tors both young and old at this mag­nifique fair­ground fes­ti­valcom­plete with French music and cuisine!
  • Bet­ter Than Jam Hand­made Gifts Shop, 11 am to 6 pm, Nolan Park, Build­ing 16: The Brook­lyn bou­tique of all local­ly hand­made prod­ucts brings the cre­ations of New York City’s most tal­ent­ed artists and crafters to the beau­ti­ful and his­toric hous­es of Nolan Park. This week­end, the craft­ing gets cre­ative at a free work­shop of col­lage card mak­ing with Astro­dub on Sat­ur­day from 1 pm to 4 pm!
  • The Skate Truck NYC, 11 am to 6 pm, Buoy Park­ing Lot: The Skate Truck NYC pro­vides roller-skat­ing equip­ment, hel­mets, and safe­ty equip­ment to skaters of any age. Skate for fun. Skate for health. Skate for life!
  • Earth Mat­ter​’s Com­post at the Out­post, Build­ing 12: Stop by the South Bat­tery for a fun, free, and hands-on eco-expe­ri­ence! Meet our com­post­ing bud­dies: the goats, chick­ens, and worms that help us recy­cle food scraps into ​“black gold.” (They love pic­nic leftovers!)
  • Children’s Muse­um of the Arts, Sat­ur­day and Sun­day, 11 am to 3pm, Nolan Park: Come to Nolan Park for the Children’s Muse­um of the Arts’ Free Art Island Outpost.
  • Pop-up Library and Out­door Read­ing Room, Sat­ur­day and Sun­day, 12 pm to 6 pm: Set­tle in with a good book at the pop-up library and out­door read­ing room pre­sent­ed by the Brook­lyn, Queens andNY pub­lic libraries.
  • FIG­MENT Sum­mer-Long Instal­la­tions, Sat­ur­day and Sun­day, 12 pm to 5:30 pm, Parade Ground: All week­end enjoy the inter­ac­tive Sculp­ture Gar­den, artist-designed Minigolf Course, City of Dreams Pavil­ion, and the Tree­house in the the Parade Grounds.
  • Free Kayak­ing, Sat­ur­day, 10 am to 3 pm, Pier 101: Brought to you by the Down­town Boathouse, enjoy some fun time out on the water with this sum­mery activ­i­ty fea­tur­ing beau­ti­ful views of New York Harbor!
  • WWII & NYC: Pho­tog­ra­phy and Pro­pa­gan­da, 10 am to 6:30 pm, Build­ing 18: Through hands-on activ­i­ties and mov­ing pho­tos, this exhi­bi­tion, pre­sent­ed by the New York His­tor­i­cal Soci­ety, paints a vivid pic­ture of life in war-mobi­lized New York, when vir­tu­al­ly every indus­try, insti­tu­tion, and home was trans­formed into a ven­ture to sup­port Allied victory.
  • Low­er Man­hat­tan Cul­tur­al Coun­cil Presents Build­ing 110: LMCC’s Arts Cen­ter at Gov­er­nors Island, 11 am to 5 pm, Build­ing 110: LMCC and its artists-in-res­i­dence wel­come audi­ences to Build­ing 110′s Gallery and their stu­dios. Dis­cov­er new artists, engage in the artis­tic process, and sim­ply enjoy the art in this stun­ning set­ting this sum­mer. LMCC is also the lead pre­sen­ter of the Riv­er to Riv­er Fes­ti­val, a four-week, mul­ti­dis­ci­pli­nary arts fes­ti­val through­out Low­er Manhattan.
  • Bike Gov­er­nors Island, 10 am to 6 pm, Colonels Row and Yan­kee Pier Land­ing: Expe­ri­ence miles of car-free bik­ing with a set of rent­ed wheels fit just for you. Bike and Roll has bikes for all sizes and abil­i­ties, includ­ing kids’ bikes, kids’ trail­ers, and four-seater quadcycles.
Get the full list of Gov­er­nors Island exhibits and pro­grams on our web­site. Look­ing for­ward to see­ing you on the Island!
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