Brooklyn Bridge Park announces 2015 summer lineup

Kicks off with ‘Celebrate Brooklyn! Dance Parties,’ beginning May 14

May 12, 2015 Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Visitors will be able to enjoy an array of free cultural, educational, and recreational events, including Syfy Movies With A View, shown above, at Brooklyn Bridge Park this summer. Photo by Mary Frost

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Brooklyn Bridge Park has announced its summer lineup, which officially kicks off with “Celebrate Brooklyn! Dance Parties,” presented by BRIC beginning May 14.

Along with stunning waterfront views, visitors will be able to enjoy an array of free cultural, educational, and recreational events. This summer the park brings back long-time audience favorite Syfy Movies With A View, along with Books Beneath the Bridge, The Metropolitan Opera, Jazzmobile with special guest Bobby Sanabria, the World Science Festival, and Shakespeare at Sunset.

Brooklyn Bridge Park will host more free events this season that should appeal to a wide variety of visitors. On May 17, a park-wide installation Please Touch the Art by Danish artist Jeppe Hein opens, featuring 18 playful sculptures designed specifically for public interaction, including a Mirror Labyrinth and Modified Social Benches. (More on this exhibition on page XX.)

The expanded arts programming also offers sunset performances by Gibney Dance, and unforgettable performances by Swedish circus company, Magmanus. Additionally, new fitness offerings include Ballet Barre, Sunrise: Abhaya Yoga, and Total Body Conditioning.

Also included on the roster of activities are family programs such as Pier Kids — a weekly celebration of arts, singing, dancing, and performance at Pier 6; Seining, a Hindu Lamp Ceremony, and the annual Kite Festival. The Conservancy’s Family Field Days also return to Piers 5 and 6 this year and will expand to Pier 2, welcoming families to all recreational piers.

A Wednesday Night Tours series will highlight the history, ecology, and design of Brooklyn Bridge Park, with tickets available at brooklynbridgepark.org. Special ecology workshops for children will be presented throughout the summer, and the volunteer Green Team will continue to offer park lovers an opportunity to learn about gardening, enjoy nature, and help make the park look its best.

While BBP’s annual park count saw 120,000 visitors over a summer weekend in 2014, the opening of Main Street, John Street, Jay Street Plaza, and Pier 6 in mid- to late July will draw even more visitors this summer, park officials say.

Main Street will be home to the Conservancy’s Environmental Education Center, serving as a base for the Conservancy’s extensive education programming and providing space for after school programs and public drop-in hours.