The Festival of Ideas for the New City StreetFest: Innovation Meets Family Fun

5/2/11 - By heather

Albert Einstein once said, "If at first, the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it." The folks involved in the four-day Festival of Ideas for the New City certainly embrace that sentiment of innovation.

From Wednesday, May 4 to Sunday, May 8, more than 200 downtown organizations, including founding partner the New Museum, will put pool their brain power to think up ways to improve NYC. The fest is organized into three parts: lectures (informative to be sure, but not for kids); 80 related projects, exhibits and performances at various downtown venues; and a very cool sounding street fair that will take over the Bowery and beyond on Saturday, May 7 from 11am-7pm.

The StreetFest is definitely the highlight for families. More than 75 organizations and businesses will show off their ideas, including cooking demos with urban farmers, gardening classes, bike tours, locally grown food, art and technology projects, and more. We've got the scoop on the most kid-friendly activities at the fest.

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There Are No Recipes with Anne Apparu
You and your kids will choose, prepare and eat a dish using locally grown ingredients, and the process will be filmed and later turned into an instructional video. Cooking pros will assist, but the dishes will be easy and healthy, and created using "clean food making" techniques. There will be a new recipe every hour, from salad to soup to dessert. Sign up for your dish of choice here.

Meet Girlzilla and Her Robot Pets
Techie teens from The Lower East Side Girls Club will share their robots and explain how they were built. Girlzilla, a 14-foot mobile model, will snap photos of festival-goers and then display them on her eye screens. Solar-powered pets Dogzilla and Catzilla will have your little ones begging to make robot pals of their own. Hey, at least these best friends have a low amount of, ahem, waste.

Hug a Worm
Slimy on Sesame Street was the only cuddly worm I could think of...until now. At ExpoTENtial's Hug A Worm Lab, kids can learn about the animal's contributions to environmental health via fun educational activities. There will be a "worm race" (a sack race riff), an adopt-a-worm program for families who compost, and creative contests like best worm costume and best worm-celebration song.

Pop-Up Imagination Playground
Whether you're already a fan of Imagination Playground at the South Street Seaport or have yet to visit, your family can get a taste of the unique play spot at the fest's pop-up version, featuring its signature giant foam blocks.

Bring the River to the People: The Estuary and You
You don't have to trek over to the East River to find out what's living there. Instead, the Lower East Side Ecology Center is bringing the info to the Bowery. Examine fascinating organisms, chat with scientists about water monitoring and find out about the ecological impact of trash.

Rove the Cove at Brooklyn Bridge Park
You can also delve into the waters off Brooklyn Bridge Park without leaving the Lower East Side. Kids can get their hands dirty (and wet) by building their own estuaries, and exploring the creatures and plants that help keep our waters clean.

StreetFest takes place on Saturday, May 7 from 11am-7pm on Bowery between Houston and Rivington Streets; Christie and Forsyth Streets between Houston and Rivington Streets; Stanton Street between Bowery and Forsyth Street; and Rivington Street between Bowery and Forsyth Street. Click here for a map and a complete schedule of events.

Looking for more festival fun? Read all about spring fairs, carnivals and fests here.