Bed-Stuy Block Party Celebrates Local Business With Music & Dance

BEDFORD-STUYVESANT, BROOKLYN — A summer festival celebrating local small businesses will bring live music, food and drink to the streets of Bed-Stuy this weekend.

The Tompkins Avenue Merchants Association Summer Fest will claim six blocks of Tompkins Avenue between Gates Avenue and Halsey Street from noon to 7 p.m. Saturday afternoon.

There will be beer, wine, food from local eateries and vendors selling their wares as performers from the Brooklyn-based African cultural centers Ifetayo, Asase Yaa, Urban Bush Women and Cumbe entertain the crowds.

Singer-songwriter Shelly Nichole, poet and singer Tai Allen and former Black Eyed Peas singer Kim Hill (and co-owner of Radical Women on Tompkins Avenue) will also be performing.

“TAMA SummerFest Weekend Walks is an event for us to build stronger connections between merchants and residents of Bedford-Stuyvesant," said Bridge Street Development Corporation president Emilio Dorcely.

"We are excited about the growth and future partnership with merchants on Tompkins Avenue."