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20 Bands, 75 Food Vendors, 35 Brewers On Tap For Great GoogaMooga In Prospect Park
By
Carrie Dennis
Published Mar 8, 2012
Modified Mar 8, 2012
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By
Carrie Dennis
Published Mar 8, 2012
Modified Mar 8, 2012
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Eco-friendly! Found materials! Artisanal! Just some of the mediaspeak thrown around at today’s press conference to announce the new FREE food, drink, and music festival to be held in the idyllic Nethermead area of Prospect Park on May 19th and 20th. (Please note: Food is not free. Nor drink.) Superfly Presents, the co-founders of Bonnaroo, are laying down a pretty penny to finally bring New Yorkers “the ultimate sensory experience” we’ve all been missing. The First Annual Great GoogaMooga Festival will feature approximately 75 food vendors, 35 brewers, 30 winemakers and 20 live performances.
The festival will be able to accommodate 40,000 people. How many show up is anyone's guess, but we know from past experience that attending a food festival often means spending most of your time waiting on line. But David Rockwell, Collaborative Designer & Festival Designer, told us, “Festivals are what we do. We’ve been doing this a long time. The people running some of the other festivals that have line troubles don’t have as much experience as we do.” And it's true; Bonnaroo is incredibly user-friendly. Rockwell said there will be multiple access points at the food stations, “line talkers” to let you know how much longer your wait will be, and, most importantly, vendors will produce enough grub to handle the crowd.
GoogaMooga will have eight different themed food and drink pavilions including HAMAGEDDON, which sets the "deliciousness of the pig against a rock and roll inspired design and features bacon selections by Allan Benton, and THE BEER & WINE EXPERIENCES, which will "showcase 35 craft brewers and 30 winemakers as selected by Garret Oliver, Paul Grieco, and Peter Eastlake respectively." Details about the food vendors will be revealed in the coming weeks but here’s a quick glimpse of some of the names on the menu: Baohouse, Big Gay Ice Cream Shop, Colicchio & Sons, Frankies 475 Spuntino, Momofuku Milk Bar, Blue Ribbon, The Spotted Pig, and Russ & Daughters.
The full music line up won’t be released until about a month before the event but if you're willing to thrown down an extra $249.50, you'll be granted access to ExtraMooga. In a "special beautiful wooded area" of the park, including the Boathouse, you will be treated to an all-inclusive, specially chosen food, wine, and beer menu. There, guests will also have prime viewing of the main stage as well as exclusive performances, seminars, demos, and theme parties such as "Marcus Samuelsson's 1920's Harlem Renaissance Party." ExtraMooga will include performances by Anthony Bourdain, Aziz Ansari, and a DJ set by LCD Soundsystem's James Murphy. But get 'em quick because supply is limited! As the website says, "extra moola means smaller crowds."
Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz—who's lucky enough to have an entire website devoted to photos of himself with food—was on hand to give the Great GoogaMooga his endorsement, but also admitted, "The last thing I need is another food festival." He also warns that if you're thinking of missing this, you might as well wait for it... “FUGGEDABOUTIT!”
(Additional eating reporting by Christopher Robbins.)
Tagged
Bonnaroo
great googa mooga
prospect park
Carrie Dennis
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