When Is Bensonhurst’s 86th Street Festival? This Sunday, June 8, 2014!
Bensonhurst’s 86th Street Festival is returning for yet another year this Sunday, June 8, 2014, for a day of fun, friends, food and entertainment.
More than 10,000 people flooded 86th Street between Bay Parkway and 19th Avenue for last year’s event. It’ll be on the same stretch this year as it has been for about a decade, kicking off at 11 a.m. until 5 p.m., offering a day of outdoor thrift-shopping with family and friends, as well as live music, booths representing a slew of local organizations and more.
Although the event draws a lot of outside vendors – like staple sausage trucks and tchotchke merchants – local businesses are also getting involved, said organizer Chip Cafiero.
“It’s really to bring the community out, and you will have a bunch of nonprofits out there besides the vendors,” said Cafiero. “And it’s also to rejuvenate the [local] merchants. We have a bunch participating.”Proceeds from the event go to bettering the community. Although in past years it went to benefit a local merchant’s association, funds now go to the Southwest Brooklyn Parks Taskforce to bring concerts and other programming to local parks. Half of the proceeds also go to the 62nd Precinct Community Council, which uses it to fund graffiti removal and other quality of life improvements throughout the district.Get there early to find parking on side streets. To get there by mass transit, take the D line to Bay Parkway or 20th Avenue, or the B1, B6 or B82 buses to Bay Parkway/86th Street.