NewsBreak Original

Welcome back to the best Park Slope events newsletter. After a quiet Labor Day things are happening everywhere again! Links to sources are in (parentheses) after each event. 💬📕Author Talk: Felice Belle. “Whimsically masterful, moving, and profound, Viscera is a collection that captivates with every poem. Belle delves into the raw heart of magic and memory, pop culture and physics.” (10:00 AM, Central Library)

(Chelsey Faucher/Unsplash) (BROOKLYN, N.Y.) The Prospect Park Alliance is planning to unveil a new mascot for its Park Champion campaign, but it is first seeking name suggestions for the chipmunk.

(Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images) (BROOKLYN, N.Y.) On Friday night, rapper and activist Vic Mensa takes the stage in Prospect Park with poet Aja Monet for the free concert series BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn.

(BROOKLYN, N.Y.) The New York Philharmonic is teaming up with the Prospect Park Alliance for a free concert and fireworks display on June 17 at 8 p.m. Park visitors can expect to see a performance by conductor Jaap van Zweden and violinist Bomsori Kim at the Long Meadow Ballfields.

(Sean Gallup/Getty Images) (BROOKLYN, N.Y.) Brooklyn Flow by Bend + Bloom, in partnership with NewYork-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital and the Prospect Park Alliance, is offering a free Prospect Park Yoga series running weekly from Thursday through Aug. 18.

(BROOKLYN, N.Y.) The Prospect Park Alliance and the NYC Parks Arts, Culture and Fun division are hosting a free concert on Saturday by American Wild Ensemble, a septet of winds, strings and percussion, to commemorate the bicentennial of the birth of Fredrick Law Olmsted.

(Afton Almaraz/Getty Images) (BROOKLYN, N.Y.) The New York Road Runners half marathon on Saturday will cause some street closures around Grand Army Plaza in the morning. The race will start near the Brooklyn Museum around 7 a.m. and will finish at Coney Island. Participants will run past the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and around Grand Army Plaza before entering Prospect Park, where they will do a loop around the park and exit from the southwest corner onto Ocean Parkway.

(Stephanie Keith/Getty Images) (BROOKLYN, N.Y.) Transportation Alternatives, a nonprofit advocating for better walking, biking and public transit for all New Yorkers, is hosting a free Family Fun Bike Ride in Prospect Park on June 4 at 10 a.m.

(Theo Wargo/Getty Images) (BROOKLYN, N.Y.) The free BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn Festival in Prospect Park announced its summer lineup Tuesday, kicking off the season June 8 with Kamasi Washington and openers Ravyn Lenae and DJ Reborn.

(BROOKLYN, N.Y.) This Saturday, Project 91 is hosting Spring Fest, a one-day music festival featuring live performances and food vendors, at Prospect Park from noon to 10 p.m. Jai Wolf will perform a DJ set and there will be performances by Audien, SNBRN, Frank Walker and Madds at the LeFrak Center at Lakeside.

(BROOKLYN, N.Y.) Blank Street, a Brooklyn-based coffee company, is serving up coffee, tea and pastries in its new battery-powered carts at the Bartel-Pritchard Square park entrance of Prospect Park starting Monday.

(Drew Angerer/Getty Images) (BROOKLYN, N.Y.) The Brooklyn Botanic Garden is expanding its hours starting Friday, when it will open its doors at 8 a.m. instead of 10 a.m. and stay open a bit later on some days.

(BROOKLYN, N.Y.) The Prospect Park Alliance broke ground Tuesday on its new Parade Ground Fit initiative, which is a project that gained a lot of local support during participatory budgeting earlier this month.

(BROOKLYN, N.Y.) The Prospect Park Alliance is celebrating Earth Day with a free event filled with family-friendly activities and interactive exhibits on April 23. The event will offer educational pieces on Prospect Park's creator, Frederick Law Olmsted, with select panels from "Frederick Law Olmsted: Landscapes for the Public Good," an exhibit dedicated to his accomplishments.

(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) (BROOKLYN, N.Y.) Winner, a Brooklyn-based restaurant group known for its popular Park Slope outpost, will be opening a location at the Prospect Park Picnic House in the coming weeks, the Prospect Park Alliance announced Wednesday.

(Jerod Harris/Getty Images) (BROOKLYN, N.Y.) Musician Erykah Badu will perform a benefit concert at the BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn arts festival in Prospect Park on Aug. 5, the performing arts program announced Tuesday.

(Yana Paskova/Getty Images) (BROOKLYN, N.Y.) The Prospect Park Soiree, an outdoor dinner event with music and dancing, will take place Saturday, June 25, starting at 5 p.m at the Prospect Park Peninsula.

(Yana Paskova/Getty Images) (BROOKLYN, N.Y) Smorgasburg, the popular food market that pops up every spring and summer, announced Tuesday that its opening weekend will be Sunday, April 3, for its Prospect Park location.

(BROOKLYN, N.Y.) Anyone who has been to the Brooklyn Botanical Garden knows that the emergence of cherry blossoms officially means the spring season is finally here. Three weeks into March and they're starting to bloom, decorating the BBG and filling the area with a gradation of pink and white.