Weekend Guide: A-Trak, The Do-Over, and The New York Art Book Fair

By Shawn Setaro

It’s a big weekend for local lovers of tangible literature. Not only is the Brooklyn Book Festival currently underway, but those in search of independent book and zine publishers to round out their reading material will find them in full force at MoMA PS1 for Printed Matter’s New York Art Book Fair, which turns 20 this year with The Do-Over, another long-running annual summit of good, occasionally even interesting, New Yorkers.

And while this week’s listings are understandably weighted towards the literary, we’ve got you covered in all areas of interest, including sneakers, streetwear, poetry, repertory film, and a ton of music, spun by Moodymann, Stretch Armstrong, A-Trak, and even Rupaul, who will be on the decks all-day in Industry City on Saturday.

See all the wild and wonderful ways your next few nights could unfold in the Weekend Guide below.

Courtesy of Target Margin Theater

Thursday, September 24

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai @ Alamo Drafthouse Brooklyn
3:45 p.m.

Catch this screening of Jim Jarmusch’s 1999 classic, programmed by Mahershala Ali and Bassam Tariq, the star and director of the upcoming film Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother, which, similarly, centers on a bloody assassin’s tale.

Sponsored: THE NONSENSE LAB @ Target Margin Theater
7 p.m.

For the next three weeks (running through October 3), you can explore innumerable ways of creating poetry and beauty through nonsense itself at The Nonsense Lab, a festival of new work at Target Margin Theater in Sunset Park. The Laboratory is anchored by three productions, led by Caroline Fermin, Adam M. Kassim, and Kathleen Kennedy Tobin, each for six performances, as well as three one-night events by Theresa Buchheister, Saskia Lane, and a TMT Community Café.

Printed Matter’s New York Art Book Fair: Opening Night @ MoMA PS1
7 p.m.

If you’re a stranger to this massive and awesome annual gathering of indie publications from across the country (300-plus this year), don’t be. Thursday’s opening night party commences this year’s 20th anniversary run with a proper blowout and a commensurately steep $60 ticket, but entry is only $10 for the rest of the week (running through Sunday).

Phoebe Bridgers: The Lost Tour @ Barclays Center
7:30 p.m.

Your favorite too-popular-to-call-her-indie-anymore singer/songwriter is back after a hiatus that lasted a good chunk of 2025. She has a new album and, of course, is touring it. She’ll be in town for three nights at Barclays, and tickets are still available (at least on the resale market).

Bikini Kill @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
8 p.m.

The legendary band is in town for a few shows. They’re performing at Music Hall of Williamsburg tonight, Brooklyn Steel tomorrow, and the CBGB Fest (more later) on Saturday. No matter where you catch them, it’ll be one of the most energetic, powerful, and, if you’re of a certain age, nostalgic shows of the year.

Courtesy of Soul in The Horn

Friday, September 25

Floodlines @ Pioneer Works
7 p.m.

The one and only Hanif Abdurraqib is hosting this night of music, poetry, conversation, and science centering around rising waters and flooding in cities. Hurray for the Riff Raff will perform, Madame Ghandi will DJ, and Eileen Myles will provide poetry. There will also be a multimedia exhibition. Plus, curator and design theorist Paola Antonelli will moderate a conversation with a number of people in the center of issues of the environment, flooding, and natural disasters.

NYWC Presents: Outlaw Wrestling @ Shrine Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel
8 p.m.

The local indie wrestling scene continues to prove it’s as fun and vital as ever. Come see the headline bout: Joseph Sawyer taking on Crowbar.

National Book Critics Circle Panel Discussion on Literary Criticism @ Community Bookstore
7 p.m.

The Brooklyn Book Festival is happening this weekend, so we’ve got a whole lot of their events on tap. This first one is exactly what it sounds like: a discussion about both the actual craft of literary criticism, and about what opportunities currently exist for book critics. The panelists are Joanna Biggs, Emily Greenhouse, Joumana Khatib, Zoë Hu, and Adam Dalva.

16th Annual Brooklyn Indie Party! @ Greenlight Bookstore
7:30 p.m.

Another Brooklyn Book Festival event! This one brings together the borough’s best independent book and magazine publishers to throw a party and share their wares.

Soul In The Horn @ The Chocolate Factory
10 p.m.

Natasha Diggs & Co. are back this week, taking over what was supposedly once an actual chocolate factory in what can now only be described as the densest concentration of venues, we’d guess, anywhere on the planet. But if you do find yourself bouncing around the club cluster of East Williamsburg, Soul in The Horn is as golden a ticket you’ll find Friday night, with five selectors and a special, still unannounced, guest.

Courtesy of The Do-Over

Saturday, September 26

Sneaker Con NYC @ Maimonides Park
12 p.m.

Max B, Nems, Premium Pete, and many more VIPs will be on hand for this weekend-long event (it continues on Sunday). Sneakers and streetwear will be taking over Coney Island. You’ll see exclusive collabs, special drops, panels, a food court, scavenger hunts, and more.

The Do-Over: 20-Year Anniversary with Moodymann, Dam-Funk, and more @ 314 Scholes Street
2 p.m.

The Do-Over, another yearly summit of good, occasionally even interesting, New Yorkers toasting to 20 this weekend, is bringing Detroit house legends and modern funk maestros to Brooklyn on Saturday night, with sets from Moodymann, Dam-Funk, JAEL, DJ Lloyd, and more.

Barchives 36: The Bars We Need: Stories of Freddy’s and Prospect Heights @ Freddy’s Bar
2 p.m.

If you’re reading BKMAG, you may already know the plight of Freddy’s Bar, a beloved Atlantic Yards dive forced to relocate to South Slope in the battle over the neighborhoods development. Today, Gabrielle Bendiner-Viani will read from her book about Prospect Heights, The Cities We Need: Essential Stories of Everyday Places, and Freddy’s owner Matthew Kuhn will tell the bar’s story, how it fought displacement while being displaced.

CBGB Festival @ Under the K Bridge Park
2 p.m.

This festival is absolutely stacked with legendary performers, some of whom actually played CB’s back in the day. Agnostic Front, the Buzzcocks, the Circle Jerks, Patti Smith, Interpol, and even a John Lydon-less version of the Sex Pistols will be on hand.

House of Yes Presents: RuPaul NYC @ Industry City
10:30 p.m.

RuPaul is doing two DJ sets tonight in Industry City, a sold-out one starting at 4, and now this one starting at 10:30 (and scheduled to go until 3 a.m.). Come watch the legend, who got some of his biggest breaks through NYC nightlife, tear it up at home.

Courtesy of Refuge

Sunday, September 27

Brooklyn Book Festival: Festival Day @ Various Locations
10 a.m.

Our final Brooklyn Book Festival event of the weekend is the big one. Check out an entire day filled up with amazing panels on every topic under the sun, spread across eight separate stages. The discussions feature writers including Marlon James, Colson Whitehead, Tracy K. Smith, Douglas Stuart, and many, many more.

Brothers Macklovitch (Dave 1 & A-Trak) and Stretch Armstrong @ Refuge
6 p.m.

Yes, Chromeo’s Dave 1 and the legendary DJ A-Trak are actual, real-life brothers, and they’ll be spinning soul, funk, house, and hip-hop from their formative years back-to-back on Sunday night, with Stretch Armstrong opening up.

Ditmas Shorts Fest: Best of Brooklyn Screening @ The Urbane Arts Club
6:30 p.m.

Ditmas Shorts Fest—a festival celebrating filmmakers from Ditmas Park—actually has its big screening on Thursday night at the Kent Theater. But this might be an even better opportunity to watch. See the films, and then stick around for a dance party.

World Premiere of John Zorn’s “Alea Iacta Est” @ Roulette
8 p.m.

“Alea Iacta Est (The Die is Cast)” is a piano concerto so involved that it took Zorn years to create. Now Brian Marsella, Jorge Roeder, and Ches Smith, along with Sae Hashimoto on vibraphone, will be bringing it to life for the first time.