Weekeng Guide: Kaytranada, Second Sundays, Brooklyn Folk Festival, and More

By Shawn Setaro

You survived Halloween and turned your clocks back on the same day as the New York City Marathon, which certainly calls for a reward—and there are plenty of them stashed in our latest edition of the Weekend Guide. Whether you want to know about the real life behind The Handmaid’s Tale, see a futuristic ballroom competition, dance to two world-class DJs, or forage or shop or laugh your face off or hear the sounds of prepared piano or tap into Atlanta’s hottest viral rapper, all of these things and more can be found below.

Scroll on for this weekend’s full listings.

Courtesy of Deep Dive

Thursday, November 6

The Other Art Fair @ ZeroSpace
6 p.m.
Finally, an art fair with work you can actually afford! This event brings together 130 independent artists from all over, and prices start at $100. Oh, and there will be more than just paintings. You’ll see large-scale installations, kinetic sculptures, and way more.

Margaret Atwood: Book of Lives w/ Emma Straub @ St. Ann’s Church
7 p.m.
Sure, we all know Margaret Atwood’s wildly influential and prescient fiction (or at least we’ve watched the TV show). But now she’s got a memoir, so you can learn all about her life, and how it intersects with the aforementioned fiction. She’ll be talking about it with bestselling author (and Books Are Magic co-owner) Emma Straub.

New Wave and Source A/V Present: The Brooklyn By Night Listening Session @ Deep Dive 
7 p.m.
Last year, director Elizabeth Ai’s NEW WAVE, a documentary about Vietnam’s distinct strain of the genre and the regional sub-culture it created, premiered at Tribeca. Now, it’s on a run of screenings across the country and, evidently, inspiring some excellent reasons to pack into a tucked-away listening bar in Bed-Stuy.

Kelly Moran’s Don’t Trust Mirrors Release Party @ Roulette
8 p.m.
Moran is a wonderful composer and pianist whose new album Don’t Trust Mirrors is written for electronics and prepared piano. The latter is a method of putting objects on or between the strings of the instrument to get all sorts of strange and marvelous sounds, a technique she uses to stunning effect on the project.

Whine Down: A Hurricane Melissa Relief Benefit @ Damballa
10 p.m.
Perhaps you caught this one in our guide to Hurricane Melissa fundraising events in and around the borough. If not, here’s a reminder that if you’re looking to hit the floor for a great cause in need of support, Whine Up is throwing a special installment of their Damballa event series to raise cash for those impacted by the storm’s devastating landfall in the Caribbean.

Courtesy of Brooklyn Folk Fest

Friday, November 7

Beyond When & Where: Paradigm Shift of Geospatial AI from Predictive, to Generative and Adaptive @ NYU Tandon
1 p.m.
For better or worse, AI is everywhere. But can it be useful in planning cities? That’s what this lecture from Zhaonan Wang is about. Wang is an Assistant Professor at NYU Shanghai who is an expert on city dynamics and decision making.

A Conversation with Geaninne Gutierrez-Guimarães, André Lepecki, and Luis Pérez-Oramas @ Amant Café and Bookstore
7 p.m.
Carlito Carvalhosa died in 2021, leaving behind a boundary-pushing legacy in contemporary art. A new book, for which this is a release party and celebration, is the most comprehensive examination thus far of that legacy. You can hear extremely qualified voices—curators, art historians, poets—discuss both the art and the book it inspired.

Brooklyn Folk Festival @ Jalopy Theater 
7 p.m.
This festival almost gives you too much: non-stop music and workshops during the day (as well as a tribute to the late Joe Hickerson), and three stages of performers at night. It starts on Friday night, runs all day Saturday and Sunday with a similarly packed schedule, and provides enough programming to make it a whole-weekend affair. Check out the full line-up here.

Camille Simone Thomas: “Sweet Blood” @ Jack
7:30 p.m.
This play about the lives of three free Afro-Taino Maroon sisters in colonial Jamaica examines ideas of liberation, mourning, and the importance of storytelling. Thomas is the resident artist this year for the venue’s Jack Labs series, so expect to see a lot more from her. Raecine Singletary directs.

AfroDesi Brooklyn @ 3 Dollar Bill
10 p.m.
AfroDesi has made its way back to Kings County, and for its latest installment, is taking folks on another “musical journey through the sounds of Afrobeats, Alté, Amapiano, Dancehall, Indian Cinema, and Desi anthems.”

Honeyluv (Extended Set), Dennis Free, Karl Brisseaux, Jay Esko @ Elsewhere
10:30 p.m.
DJ Honeyluv is blowing up right now. Even Idris Elba is aware of that—the two collaborated on the recently released track “Euro Flow.” You can see for yourself what Stringer Bell already knows during her extended set tonight at Elsewhere.

Courtesy of Barclays Center

Saturday, November 8

Fantastic Fungi Mushroom ID Hike @ Prospect Park
11 a.m.
Admit it—some part of you has always wanted to learn how to forage. Why wait any longer? Join an Urban Park Ranger and go on a hike to learn all about mushrooms. Nope, probably not those mushrooms, sadly.

A Current Affair’s Pop-Up Vintage Marketplace @ 51 34th Street
12 p.m.
The best vintage shopping experience out there is coming back to BK. A Current Affair brings together over 70 retailers of clothing, jewelry, and accessories. If you can’t find it here, it ain’t out there anywhere.

House of Miyake-Mugler Presents: PORCELAIN BALL @ Brooklyn Paramount
4 p.m.
This wild ballroom competition brings in a heavy dose of environmental consciousness into the extraordinary costumes and performances. Technology and ecology will be fighting to remain in balance in categories like “Face as a House” and “Bizarre/Bazaar.”

Mitchell Cheng Trio @ Blue-Sun Records
7 p.m.
Pianist and composer Mitchell Cheng is posting up with a pair of new musicians in tow at one of our favorite record stores in the city. The performance begins at 7 p.m., but don’t be afraid to pull up early to comb the crates and secure your seat.

Kaytranada and Justice @ Barclays Center
7 p.m.
You may have spotted this on our list of must-see fall concerts (which still has a ton of ammunition, by the way), but if this is somehow the first time you’ve been made aware of these two generational forces in house and electronics crossing the streams at Atlantic and Flatbush Avenues, we hope you now know there might not be a better party in town Saturday (and Sunday) night.

The Carry Nation @ Good Life
10 p.m.
Nita Aviance and Will Automagic, aka The Carry Nation, are a duo of DJ/producers who both have deep roots in NYC nightlife. Nita is a member of the legendary House of Aviance, while Will goes back to the days of the Limelight and The Loft. This is their monthly party.

Courtesy of Pioneer Works

Sunday, November 9

19th Annual Brooklyn Children’s Book Fair @ Brooklyn Museum
11 a.m.
Dozens of local authors and illustrators will be on hand to share their books aimed at kids of all ages. Plus, there will be special presentations and performances going on throughout. If there’s a young person in your life who loves to read, this is the place to be.

Second Sundays @ Pioneer Works
12 p.m.
Pioneer Works is cracking open the galleries, studios, and exhibits this weekend for their latest run of Second Sundays, practically an institution in its own right at this point. There will be solar-gazing with the Amateur Astronomers Association in the garden, an installation on how data surveillance, AI, and algorithms corrupt culture, a film screening, and god only knows what else in the Red Hook warehouse.

Closing Day of “Durations” @ Public Records
3 p.m.
This week, Public Records is celebrating leading experimentalists and innovators in all genres with a five-day festival, of sorts, called “Durations.” It began on Wednesday night with performances from Jan Jelinek and Jefre Cantu-Ledesma, continues every night of the week, and closes on Sunday with a packed-to-the-gills line-up led by searing Chicago guitarist Jeff Parker in The Atrium and Lyra Pramuk in the Sound Room.

Power Suit with Rebecca Weiser + Mariah Oxley @ Littlefield
7 p.m.
This year’s New York Comedy Festival is huge and heavy on star power. But this may be one of the best events of all. Weiser and Oxley host a night of comedy that also serves as a satire of #GirlBoss culture. Best of all, the performers include Ilana Glazer and Joyelle Nicole Johnson.

PLUTO @ Warsaw
7 p.m.
PLUTO is a young Atlanta artist best known for her hit with YK Niece, “Whim Whamiee,” which was everywhere this summer. Her debut album Both Ways features even more fun and bouncy hits, like “I’m Just a Girl.” Seeing her live could be the mood-lift needed to get you through these upcoming cold months.