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Revamped Brooklyn Farm and Flea to Become Giant Arts Fest

By Meredith Hoffman | August 14, 2012 11:56am | Updated on August 14, 2012 5:40pm

BUSHWICK —  The seeds of dandelion coffee maker Courtney Novak's dreams to open a Bushwick flea have shifted shapes, locations and leaders since their conception in May — and this weekend the revamped Brooklyn Farm and Flea will be bigger than ever before, with shops, films and performers alongside food vendors and holistic healers.

After Novak moved out of the city to work on a farm, Sam Saverance, founder of the Ethiopian vegan pop-up Bunna Cafe and the flea's new organizer, is unleashing the market Saturday in local business center The Loom on Flushing Avenue.

"It's going to be an interesting experiment in blending the flea market concept with other experiences," Saverance said, noting that he expected up to 1,000 people at the market that runs 12 — 10 p.m.

"Almost all the merchants at The Loom are on board for doing something that day," he said, "plus we are booking 25 vendors to set up in the halls...If it's well received we'll continue to do it monthly."

The Loom Yoga Center will offer $5 yoga, performer J.W. plans to offer up "bad relationship advice," and the Studio at the Darkroom has a line-up of films starting at 3 p.m., the flea's website notes.

And as the sun starts getting low in the sky, live music will kick off in the Loom's courtyard, with groups including the Pittsburgh-based Van Allen Belt and the Brooklyn band Rifle Recoil.

Screenprinting shop Silky's is also hosting an "art battle," the Loom yoga center is featuring $5 classes, and the Bushwick Food Co-Op is planning a cookout. The new North Brooklyn Bike Collective is also opening its doors and Saverance, of course, will be dishing out his sizzling Ethiopian concoctions atop fresh flatbread.

"A flea market is always something I'd wanted to do," Saverance said earlier this summer. "I had been planning to do a flea market for almost a year now and I feel very lucky to have met Courtney when I did."