A herd of life-size buffalo puppets moves through two boroughs this week, roaming and running through streets, plazas, and parks with live music, poetry, gospel choirs, dance troupes, marching bands, and Lakota and Lenape ceremonies along the route. Return of the Buffalo: Tatanka Owe Akupi is free and non-ticketed, presented by St. Ann’s Warehouse, The Walk Productions, and KBH Arts.

  • Friday, Sept. 18 — Lower Manhattan, 5–7:30 p.m. Start at Bowling Green Park, follow the herd to Foley Square
  • Saturday, Sept. 19 — Downtown Brooklyn, 2–4:30 p.m. From Abolitionist Place to Brooklyn Bridge Park
  • Cost — Free. No tickets, no RSVP. You register separately only if you are joining as a puppeteer or formal participant
  • Route map — St. Ann’s publishes a Google map plus a Bloomberg Connects guide with the artists scheduled for each day
  • On the bill — Laurie Anderson, Rhiannon Giddens, Davóne Tines & THE TRUTH, Rosario Dawson, Sam Waterston, Susan Sarandon, Resistance Revival Chorus, Pilobolus Dance Company, Fogo Azul marching band, Brooklyn United Marching Band, Native Pride Dancers, and others
  • How it was made — Conceived by Amir Nizar Zuabi in partnership with Elders of the Lenape and Lakota Tribes; puppetry design by Ukwanda Puppets of South Africa

Two practical notes. The route is a moving procession with pop-up performances, not a seated show, so pick a segment in advance and let the herd come to you rather than chasing it — Foley Square on Friday and Brooklyn Bridge Park on Saturday are the natural endpoints. And the Saturday afternoon slot pairs directly with Papi Juice’s free dance party on Pier 6, which starts at 4 p.m. right where the Brooklyn procession lands.

The subject is the buffalo’s return from near extinction to repopulation, which the production frames as a story about healing rather than nostalgia. That is the reason it works as public art instead of a parade float: it is built with, and staged by, the nations whose history it is describing, and it lands in the middle of a workday in front of people who did not plan to see it.