Saturday, May 26, 2012

The First Great Googa Mooga



It's a terrible name for a festival, but it was a beautiful day in Prospect Park. Tickets to this shindig were free but limited, and we were lucky a friend at work had offered us two tickets for Sunday. The first day of the festival, Saturday, was apparently plagued with long lines, food shortages, and many angry tweets were broadcast, so we were a little apprehensive. However, the four of us showed up bright and early on Sunday, and were able to eat and drink without experiencing the logistical problems and enormous crowds of the day before. By the time we sauntered out of the park, later in the afternoon, lines were lengthening and menu items were being "x-ed" off chalkboards, but by that point people seemed happy just to be hanging out in the breezy sunshine, listening to Fitz and the Tantrums play on the main stage. (No, I've never heard of them either, but they were rather good. And they're opening for Dave Matthews next month, so there!)


Thanks to our early arrival, there were lots of shady spots to spread to a blanket and establish a base of operations. Grazing in the grass is, in fact, a gas, and we dug it:



There were something like 75 food and drink establishments represented at the fair, but despite this attractive display:


...this was not a vegetarian-friendly festival, as evidenced by the whole pig being roasted in the large metal replica, seen below.


Hamageddon. Yes. The items we chowed down on included pesto-tomato rice balls from Arancini Brothers:


a BLT made with a slab of grilled thick-cut bacon from Landhaus:

pulled-pork sandwiches:

peppered grilled cheese, and "flights" of bacon (seven varieties from seven locations, on a plate.) There were also wine and beer pavilions wherein to slake the thirst that results from such a high sodium intake:


I was hoping there'd be more free-sampling, but no. The only swag to be had was from the ubiquitous representatives of Orbit chewing gum, who were offering moist washcloths and packs of gum:




The copy was clever, and now, for the rest of this summer, when someone asks me, "Got any gum?" my answer will be "Oh, yeah."

So keep an eye out next year for ticket registration; if the producers didn't wear out their welcome, it may be back. We enjoyed the day and, with any luck, we'll get to bring a few more friends next time.

A parting shot, on our way out, of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Memorial Arch: