Target sponsored a street festival this beautiful Sunday afternoon in the Meatpacking District at the High Line.  A gorgeous day for a fun event!

The festival was a celebration of the opening of the first section of the High Line, featuring fun street performances:  energetic live bands from swing to salsa, a juggler,  acrobats and dancers, and inflatable balloon sculptures.  There were tons of tables with kids activities, including a horse for the kiddos to sit and pose on, and an area to enjoy a live reading of Peter Brown’s bestselling, High Line-inspired children’s book The Curious Garden.   There was also a photo booth to take pictures that you can mail as a postcard to your future self.

The line to walk up the stairs to the actual High Link park area was insanely long!  It wrapped around the streets and snaked around an empty parking lot, but fortunately the line moved quickly so no one died in the sweltering heat.  Once we got up there, there was a great deal of foot traffic, but surprisingly uncongested.  With paths about the width of a street, it was nice to walk a few stories above ground level amid some greenery and take in the New York sights.

In this day and age of the Green Movement, the festival had a focus on sustainability, bringing together some of the healthiest and tastiest foods for a special greenmarket.   The creperie truck by Le Gamin constantly drew a crowd, but since it was so hot and sunny, I opted for the delicious coffee ice cream by Blue Marble, based in Brooklyn.   The cups, bowls, and spoons were compostable, so there were lots of volunteers there strictly enforcing people to recycle properly.  There also was the alleged World’s Largest Lemonade Stand, with well over a thousand gallons of fresh lemonade blended inside a specially-designed rooftop water tank.   Was it really the world’s largest, or was it just some marketing ploy?  Either way, the lemonade was sweet and refreshing!

My favorite part of the festival were these random balloon costumes of monsters/sea creatures.  The green one was moving around spastically and attacking passersby!  Still not quite sure what they are, but I took some photos in the gallery below – can you tell what it is?  Post guesses below!

Yours,
Von