Editor’s note: The event location for the Brooklyn Get Down Festival has changed, as the organizer relocated venues following publication of this article. For more information on the new location, visit the event’s website here.
BROOKLYN — Get ready to get down this summer at a four-day music festival bringing house music and dancing to Bedford-Stuyvesant.
The first-ever Brooklyn Get Down Festival comes to Restoration Plaza from July 28 to July 31 with a variety of DJs, artists and vendors, according to organizers.
“People can just be in a harmonious, loving, dancing environment. It’s that stuff that brings joy to the heart — that’s what people need,” said festival co-founder Domingo Canate.
In addition to free outdoor dance parties, attendees can visit art exhibits at Restoration’s Skylight Gallery, as well as watch a documentary exploring the culture of urban outdoor house music parties, organizers said.
Talks will be hosted throughout the weekend and kids will be able to bust a move at their own get-together at an on-site dance studio.
Canate sought to bring a large dance and music festival to New York City after producing the film, “Hands to the Sky,” which takes a look at DJs, musicians, dancers and fans at house music dance parties.
The documentary highlights festivals throughout the city, as well as others in Chicago and New Jersey, the executive producer added.
Canate, who grew up in Brooklyn, spent his teenage years at Manhattan’s Paradise Garage, a popular disco club in Hudson Square, he said.
“That place pretty much made an impact on my life as far as music is concerned,” he said.
“When the club closed, there were these pop-ups of dance events outdoors, and I wanted to tell and share with the world how people come together, have a really great time. It’s very uplifting and spiritual.”
The Brooklyn Get Down Festival will feature “soulful house music” and other mixes from DJs as young as 15, Canate said.
“At the end of the day, I want people to know that no matter what color, what sexuality, whoever they are, they can come into a space like this and not feel inhibited or apprehensive in any which way or form,” he added.
The Brooklyn Get Down Festival will take place at Restoration Plaza, at 1368 Fulton St., from July 28 to July 31. For a full schedule of events, visit the festival’s website here.
