Most free things to do in this city ask you to watch. NYC Day of Flow asks you to try. On Saturday, October 3, Pier 6 Plaza at Brooklyn Bridge Park becomes an outdoor studio for flow arts — the umbrella term for hoops, poi, juggling, silk fans, Levi wands and the rest of the object-in-motion family — with workshops, community games, performances and an open jam that runs until 6:30 p.m.
- When: Saturday, October 3, 2:00–6:30 p.m.
- Where: Pier 6 Plaza, Brooklyn Bridge Park — the southern end of the park, by the volleyball courts
- Cost: Free
- RSVP: Free registration through the park’s event page, or the EventVesta link on the NYC Parks listing (eventvesta.com/events/163608)
- What’s happening: Beginner workshops in hula hooping, poi, juggling, Levi wand and silk fans; interactive community games; live performances; a closing open flow jam
- Who it’s for: All ages, all experience levels — the framing is explicitly try-it-for-the-first-time friendly
- Who’s behind it: Brooklyn Bridge Park with Flowtopia NYC, funded by the Fund for Flow Arts
- Questions: 718-222-9939 or info@bbp.nyc
The structure is what makes this worth putting on the calendar: workshop first, then games and performances, then an open jam where whoever is still standing can just play. That progression means you can walk in having never spun a hoop and spend the last hour of the afternoon in the jam without feeling like an intruder.
Flow arts is also a hobby with a brutal entry cost — good poi and silk fans are not cheap, and there is no way to know which prop suits you until you have held one. An afternoon where instruction and equipment are already organized is the cheapest possible answer to that question, and it happens once, on one afternoon, in a park that is free to walk into.
Check the park’s event page before you head over in case of weather changes or a moved location.