The Great GoogaMooga Arrives in Prospect Park

Jenny May 19, 2012 at 04:31 pm

great early photos. thanks.

Kim May 20, 2012 at 11:16 am

I loved the idea of this but its too big, it was like being at Disneyland; long lines, everyone hot and hungry and cranky. I had friends leave because they couldn't get food at a food festival! I hope they learn for next year!

Rick Oshea May 20, 2012 at 11:44 am

I hope what they learn is not to do it again.

Rick Oshea May 20, 2012 at 11:49 am

There is a vendor by the 9th street entrance where I stopped to get a drink yesterday. There was a long line and we all got to talking and everyone had come over from the Neathermeade to get something because the lines were too long at the festival. On another note there is a spot where you approach the Neathermeade by crossing over the hill by the dog pond. It was torn up by park trucks after the trees came down in the fall. They have had that area fenced off and seeded for six months to grow the grass back. That area is now covered with portisans. I wonder how long it will take this time to get it back in shape. Brilliant.

Adam Rabiner May 20, 2012 at 12:49 pm

Yes, an hour wait for a smallish, expensive, Mile Long smoked meat sandwich and a cherry drink that I hope was kombucha (and not something gone bad). A trip to the medical tent for my daugher who had tripped playing a game and smashed her head and knee on the concrete. Other than that I had a good time.

J. Holmes May 20, 2012 at 10:50 pm

Sounds like this event is a work in progress. I am sure the organizers will learn from mistakes and strive to make next year even better.

Chicken Underwear May 20, 2012 at 11:24 pm

I agree. This is a park not a rent-a-festal site. Regular Park users should not have been pushed out so so giant company could move in for weeks and ruin our park.
Floyd Bennett Field would have been a better location.

Lou Howort May 21, 2012 at 04:56 am

Excluding regular park users by requiring tickets to attend the event, not to mention taxpayers whose hard earned dollars support most of it's expenses, is an outrage. Hopefully, the organizers will not get approval for another such debacle next year unless access to the event is open to all. If they do, blame the politicians, from Marty Markowitz on up to the Mayor (whoever that may be).

Rick Oshea May 21, 2012 at 01:28 pm

And Lou you can add the Prospect Park Alliance and Emily Lloyd to that blame list.

Rick Oshea May 21, 2012 at 01:31 pm

We could hear (loudly) some really awful music from our apartment including a really derivative really bad rehash punk band (punk was good 25 years ago), a derivative 70s disco band and a bad Led Zeppelin cover band. It would have been torture to be there.

Rick Oshea May 21, 2012 at 01:33 pm

Hey chicken underwear we agree on something. It was bound to happen. And just wait to see what the meadow looks like when all the trucks and portisans leave. Your idea about Floyd Bennett Field is much better.

Jim May 21, 2012 at 03:02 pm

I went with my kids early on Sunday and had a great time. No real long lines to speak of. The food was awesome and beer was plentiful. Charles Bradley was a lot of fun, but we did not stay long enough for Hall and Oats. I have no problem with how the festival was run and if the Prospect Park Alliance was able to raise some money then I am fine with a small portion of the park being closed to the general public for this event one weekend a year. I hope they do it again next year.

Jenny May 21, 2012 at 03:07 pm

I agree with JIm. I think it's a good event for Brooklyn. I hope more people enjoyed it than found it a problem...

Jad2k May 21, 2012 at 03:26 pm

They can't have this event open to all; for the ticket holders (tickets were free, for the most part) the lines were ridiculously long and they ran out of almost all of the food HALF WAY INTO THE EVENT. If anything, they would need to limit this event to far fewer people. It was total chaos!

Parksloper May 21, 2012 at 04:33 pm

I don't want this event in my back yard either but I would never want this event open to all. Good grief. Can you imagine the chaos, crime, garbage. No thanks!

Lou Howort May 21, 2012 at 04:53 pm

I have been to a number of events at Prospect Park that were open to all and were a lot bigger than this one and there was no chaos or crime. Garbage yes, but that's the citys (Parks Department) responsibility which is usually, if not always, done in a timely fashion. Large crowds at Prospect Park do not often lead to chaos and crime any more than they do at Central Park where they have had events with upwards of 100,000 people in the past.

Rick Oshea May 21, 2012 at 05:13 pm

Hey folks check out the article on Huffington Post. Every single comment is trashing this jive, hustling, pretentious event. It will be interesting to see how quickly the hipster sheep who have waxed euphoric distance themselves from the event once they catch the drift that it is universally scorned.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/20/googamooga-2012-new-york_n_1531628.html

Rick Oshea May 21, 2012 at 05:17 pm

Yep tearing up the park, fencing it off to park goers, blasting really bad music, that is indeed good for Brooklyn. I look forward to seeing what the Neathermead looks like when the trucks and the portisans are gone. As I said earlier they have spent six moths reseeding part of the meadow. And it was quite enjoyable dodging a bunch of drunk obnoxious hipsters stumbling down 9th street at 8:30 last night.

mincemeat May 21, 2012 at 07:02 pm

Well, we had a wonderful time and absolutely loved it. Hall and Oates were a blast and everyone was super-friendly. I live two blocks away and use the park daily. I am thrilled to have an event like the Googa Mooga there. Hell, it's only two days.

FrtGreeneGal May 21, 2012 at 08:54 pm

Saturday was a nightmare of long lines, overpriced, mass produced less than mediocre food. Probably because we chose the shortest lines but I couldn't bother waiting in line for 45 minutes for a pulled pork sandwich in the blazing sun and the bands were an afterthought.

FrtGreeneGal May 21, 2012 at 08:55 pm

I did hear Sunday was much less chaotic but likely due to all the folks with tickets for both days that did not return and all the bad word of mouth.

NothinLikeABklynGirl May 22, 2012 at 04:07 pm

I was there on Sunday, and had a great time. There was no line for entry, and most of the food lines were reasonable, say 15 minutes. I tried food from at least eight different vendors, only one of which I was disappointed with. And it's great exposure for NYC restaurants, as almost all of the vendors I tried were new to me and I will definitely be recommending them or patronizing some of them again.

D.B. May 23, 2012 at 01:43 pm

Neighbors, go and take a look at the Neathermead . A week ago it was pristine. Googa Mooga destroyed it (and the path leading to the Neathermead from the Wellhouse Drive). You will see lots of mud, dead grass and huge tire tracks.

Baggins May 23, 2012 at 02:11 pm

NIMBY protesters shut the hell up!
Judging from your comments you did not even attend this event, so you are placing judgement blindly. First of all this was a food event not a music driven "hipster" event which is obvious since the biggest name band was Hall & Oates a soft rock driven band from the 70's and 80's. The event may have had it's share of downfalls which the promoters fully recognized many of them being adjusted already by sunday. Also don't think for a second that the park's alliance won't be holding them accountable for getting everything back in shape as soon as possible. No this may not happen in 2 days from the event but if you don't see progress in 2 weeks maybe then you can start to get upset. I know that you don't want the outsiders traipsing through your precious neighborhood but the feedback that I read is that the majority of those outsiders upset at the festival ventured out into the neighborhood to enjoy the beauty of it while pumping much money into our local businesses. Afterward people who had never been to this part of Brooklyn were gushing with compliments on how great a time they had out here.

Rick Oshea May 23, 2012 at 08:49 pm

It is a park not a fair ground. The west end of the Neathermead had been dug up by park trucks attending to trees downed in the storms of last fall. It has been reseeded and fenced off eer since so the grass could grow back. It had finally grown back just in time to be the setting of a row of portisans. I know that because I walked arounbd the perimeter and observed the goings on. I saw that big old inane Hamageddon thing. Ooo. I saw workers wearing oh so clever t shirts. Mostly I saw a lot of posers posing. And yes I know it was a food event. It was a chance for food fashion victims to get all giddy because there were some big name food people there. Anthony Bourdain. I know he's some sort of celebrity from the food channels. Sort of a foodie Snooki I think. ANd oooo the Spotted Pig people were there. Ooooo. But although it was not a music driven event there was a lot of loud and really bad music that we heard quite clearly from our apartment which is about a fifteen minute walk from the site. I heard a bad Van Halen cover band, a bad disco band and a bad Led Zeppelin cover band. Oh and a truly excruciating punk band. And I liked punk. Twenty five years ago.

Rick Oshea May 23, 2012 at 08:49 pm

And yes it is our precious neighborhood. What exactly is wrong with that? And as for those us being favored by those foodie hipsters who ventured out of the park and into our neighborhood? Yeah we got a horde of obnoxious drunken twits who paraded down 9th street. I don't think they brought much to the neighborhood and I think if put to a vote the majority of the folks here would be happy not to see them again.

Baggins May 23, 2012 at 09:15 pm

Cranky old man stay in your cave!

Rick Oshea May 24, 2012 at 12:11 am

A little ageist maybe? And who's cranky. The one who tosses out insults like that maybe? The one who tells "protesters to shut the hell up"? sounds a little cranky to me. Callow youth.

Rick Oshea May 24, 2012 at 12:14 am

Oh and incidentally I stumbled out of my cave and took a stroll (with my walker) over to the meadow this evening. It's pretty torn up. But you all got your bacon and that's the important thing.