This is a very backdated post. I guess I have been too busy (and somewhat lazy) to go through all the photos that we took and blog about this event. Oh well, like they all say, it's better late than never! The Family Festival Street Fair is one of the highlights of the month long annual Tribeca Film Festival. Many people label it as 'NYCs ultimate street fair and family festival'. So naturally, I was pretty excited about it. Having missed the fair last year, I told myself that I HAVE to check it out this year. Kevin on the other hand wasn't all that keen (he probably didn't know how awesome it will be!) and by the time we actually arrived in Tribeca, it was already almost 2:30pm. So, we had only about 3 and a half hours left to walk around before they wrap up.
Upon arrival, we realized that we forgot to bring along the street map that I had pre printed off the Internet earlier. Since the whole festival spreads over the entire Tribeca neighborhood, with various events happening simultaneously at various locations, I was pretty bummed that we forgot the map. Thankfully, the first booth that we saw when we arrived was the American Express (they were the main sponsor of the festival) Guest Information booth. Not only did we get a map, but the super friendly and informative people at the booth pointed out the highlights of the festival and suggested various things that we could do. Very very cool.
Our first stop was the BMCC & The Park section of the fair. This is where you can catch all kinds of theater, dance, music and martial arts performances. Also, there are all kinds of classes and workshops going on throughout the day. The first thing that we saw when we walked in was the Imagination Playground. It's pretty cool actually. There were over sized building blocks and puzzle pieces scattered all over the enclosed basketball area. Kids were allowed to be creative and build anything they want. Also, since it was in an enclosed area, it was really safe for the kids. Parents can just kick back and not worry about the safety of their kids.
We then headed over to the Tribeca Red Carpet area but nothing much was going on there. I think there were a few wax figures of celebrities from Madame Tussauds and you were allowed to go take a picture with them. We didn't really bother cos the line was just too long. So, we headed to one of the stages and managed to catch a few dance routines by the Knicks City Dancers! For those of you who don't follow the NBA, they are the cheerleaders for the NY Knicks. Kevin thinks that they are probably the second or third liners, cos they were not really that great. We later confirmed that when we saw the first liners signing autographs at the NY Knicks booth over that the ESPN Zone.
From there, we popped over to Washington Market Park to see what's happening over there. Nothing much for us adults, it's mostly activities for kids. While we were there, we managed to catch the tail end of a magic show cum storytelling session at the Park Gazebo. The guy was pretty good and the kids loved him. There were also puppet shows and other performances for kids at the Park Gazebo through out the day.
The whole park was nicely decorated with over sized butterflies and dragonflies. I thought that it was pretty cool. Apart from performances at the Park Gazebo, there were also ample picnic tables under the large shady trees for people to just relax and enjoy the outdoors. There were many families having their picnic lunches all around the park. I'm guessing this festival is an all day affair for most people. 
Aren't the flowers just lovely? Yes, it's springtime and tulips are blooming everywhere! I cannot help but take loads of pictures with all the beautiful flowers (I took like tons of pictures but decided spare all you guys and only post up one :P). From Washington Market Park, we decided to head over to the Tribeca Sports Film Festival section. This is where you can meet sports personalities from various NY/NJ pro sport teams as well as try your hand at sport themed games at the booths. You could also catch BMX stunt shows and other performances there. Stay tuned for my next post about the ESPN Tribeca Sports Film Festival section of the fair!
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