Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s (BBG) cherry blossom festival, Sakura Matsuri—popularly considered New York City’s rite of spring and the largest annual event in a U.S. public garden—will celebrate its 35th edition on April 30 and May 1, 2016. Taking place during hanami, the Japanese tradition of enjoying each moment of cherry blossom season, Sakura Matsuri festivities extend beyond BBG’s spring blooms, with over 60 energetic and dynamic performances, demonstrations, and exhibits showcasing traditional and contemporary Japanese culture. This cultural event’s distinctive entertainment and community spirit attracts one of the largest, most colorful audiences in the city. [Read More]

Brooklyn Film Festival (BFF), the first international, competitive film festival in New York, has closed submissions for its 19th annual edition themed Experiment. BFF received 2,854 films from 120 countries, a new record for the festival. The event will run from June 3rd through June 12th at two main venues: Wythe Hotel in Williamsburg and Windmill Studios NYC in Greenpoint. Additional programming will be presented on June 9th at Syndicated in Bushwick. On June 4th, BFF will present its 12th annual kidsfilmfest at Made in NY Media Center by IFP in Dumbo. On June 11th, BFF will present its 5th Exchange program at BRIC in Fort Greene. The festival will present a total of 110-120 film premieres (final number TBA in May) and each film will be shown twice. [Read More]

The Queens Economic Development Corporation and the Queens Tourism Council are proud to announce that the borough’s premiere food-and-networking event — Queens Taste 2016 — will take place at the New York Hall of Science in Flushing Meadows Corona Park on Tuesday, May 3, from 6 pm to 9 pm. [Read More]