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The Great Googa Mooga

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I’m going to start this post by saying anyone who knows me knows that I hate the following things: the heat, people, crowds of people, people encroaching on my own personal space, waiting, and port-a-potties. This didn’t make me feel particularly optimistic about attending The Great Googa Mooga today. I knew a few people that went yesterday and they all left after about half an hour because it was so crowded and awful.

Well, my experience couldn’t have been more different. I seriously loved every single minute of it.

First, this is what Googa Mooga is:

“Approximately 75 food vendors, 35 brewers, 30 winemakers and 20 live music performances will be on hand to help us relish some of life’s greatest pleasures—gathering with friends and neighbors to eat, drink, talk, laugh, dance, linger and just . . . be together.

We envision a place where the best chefs and purveyors can serve their food and bring about instant elation. Where everyday food lovers can discover and share amazing new tastes, and where the right slice of pizza can be as treasured/praiseworthy as four-star fois-gras.”

It was a free event, you just had to quickly get tickets online before they were snatched up. I missed them the first time but managed to get them the second time. You could also buy $250 tickets which included food, drink, and a access to a few extra things.

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I met my friend at about 11:30 and we walked up to Prospect Park. We probably got there around noon, there was no line to show our tickets (you had to show them twice) and no line for security.

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Our first stop was the ID check and beverage tent. My friends who went yesterday said this was the worst part since you had to wait on one line to get a bracelet saying you’re over 21 and a separate line to actually buy the alcohol. I’d say we waited less than five minutes for our bracelets and there was no line for the actual booze.

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At this point there weren’t a ton of people there, which I think definitely made the experience more pleasant.

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We checked out all the food stands and I decided I wanted a burger from The Spotted Pig (which was in the “Hamburger Experience,” could there be anything better?). The line was pretty long, maybe 20 people ahead of me, but we waited 10 minutes tops. It was supposed to be $12 for a burger with roquefort and fries, but they weren’t making fries so just the burger was $10, which I thought was a great deal.

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They had these narrow tables where you could stand so we picked a spot by the stage and settled in to eat.

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I thought my burger was good, I wasn’t blown away, I’ve certainly had much better burgers. The bun was delicious though, very buttery.

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I also got an Empire IPA, which I didn’t love. It kind of had a coffee taste to it, which isn’t my thing.

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I liked the recycled tables.

The whole reason I got Sunday tickets (the event was Saturday and Sunday and there were separate tickets for each day) was because I wanted to hear Charles Bradley. I LOVE him and I was so happy I got to see him. Plus he opened with my favorite song (above)!

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After we ate we settled down on my blanket to listen to the rest of Charles Bradley’s set.

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Once Charles Bradley finished we decided to do some more exploring. This was the chandelier in the craft beer tent which I really liked.

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I got a sample of the Blind Faith IPA from Magic Hat, again, it was kind of coffee-tasting. Also, the way you got beer and wine was one of my few dislikes about the event. The sample was $3, but you had to pay $2 to get the glass, that you then reused. I guess if you were drinking a lot it would be worth it, but it was just a cheap, plastic glass.

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Cheap plastic glass

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This was the wine tent, it was much less crowded than the beer tent.

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They built their counters with old wine crates, which I thought was cool.

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More exploring then happened, this was Hamageddon. I loved him.

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Fruit sculpture

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I LOVE Wooly’s Ice and I was so excited to see them here. I had their ice at the Vendy’s last year for the first time and I’m kind of obsessed.

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It’s an Hawaiian (and another country, I can’t remember) shaved ice. I got the OG, which was the original ice, leche sauce (pretty much condensed milk), strawberries, and brownies.

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It was damn good.

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We then picked a spot on the grass, put our blanket down, and stayed there the rest of the afternoon.

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My friend went to get us soda from Brooklyn Soda Works and she got me the apple ginger. I was a little like WTF? But it grew on me. It was actually really refreshing and not sweet at all.

We listed to Escort and then Fitz and the Tantrums. I thought they were both great, really energetic and I liked their music (which I wasn’t familiar with).

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Around 4:30 I decided to do some exploring. I went to use the bathroom, my I walked away from the main arrangement of port-a-potties to a more remote location and didn’t have to wait and mine was clean and stocked with toilet paper and anti-bacterial stuff.

Then I went over to Dirty Bird to get some fried chicken.

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I got the 3 chicken fingers with BBQ sauce, they were very, very good. I don’t remember the last time I had chicken fingers.

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I also got a watermelon lemonade which was so refreshing.

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Then we waited for Hall and Oates to come on! As you can tell it was getting more crowded, but I never felt overwhelmed or nervous. It was a very happy, relaxed crowd.

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I took another walk around while we were waiting for Hall and Oates. This was the General Store where you could buy Googa Mooga merch. I didn’t look that closely.

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Finally it was time for Hall and Oates. It didn’t get as crowded as I expected, I thought we might be forced to stand or at least have a bigger crowd around our blanket.

They opened with Maneater, played about a million songs I’d never heard, played She’s Gone which I couldn’t even recognize, and then were done. For the encore they played Rich Girl (finally!) and the song above, which obviously I know but I’m not sure of the name. Then we left, as we were leaving they introduced some key people who organized the event, and then played Your Kiss. Maybe they played another song, but we were out of hearing range by then. I was disappointed with Hall and Oates, I thought the three other performers were much better.

I really can’t say enough nice stuff about Googa Mooga and the way it was organized. I’m so excited to go back next year and I’m sorry that my friends who went on Saturday had such a terrible time.

There are some things I could be improved: the line for beer/wine/soda/water was the same line. My friend just wanted water and had to wait in the long line with people who wanted beer and wine. There was no cell reception the entire time, I get that that can’t really be controlled, but still, it sucked. A place to refill your water bottle would also be nice, you could bring a bottle in and there was one water fountain (that’s normally in the park), but otherwise you were out of luck (and I imagine most people didn’t know the water fountain was there, it’s just part of my running route so I knew). And finally, the playing $2 for a cheap plastic glass to try beer and wine from the respective tents sucked.

But otherwise I really have no complaints. I think the fact that we got there early really helped (although my roommate showed up around 2pm and she also loved her experience). I also think you have to be smart about it, the Luke’s Lobster line was out of control, so if you don’t want to wait on line for an hour plus, just eat something else. Also, I wouldn’t go hungry. And if you’re from NYC, all the places that were there are based in NYC so you can go to them at any time, so don’t get all caught up in one thing. And remember, you’re outside at a food and music festival, do you really need to get back to your blanket/table that quickly? Relax! Have fun!

But I had a great time and I can’t wait to go again next year!



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