Lower East Side Pickle Day 2014
The Lower East Side Pickle Day took place on Sunday, October 19th, 2014. From 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. New York City picklers and various vendors set up shop across three blocks on Orchard between East Houston and Delancey streets. Aside from the 20+ world-class picklers, there were 30+ local food and fashion vendors, as well as activities, DJ’s, live music, and comedy performances. The event was free and attracted visitors of all ages, from families with young children to groups of young hipsters to senior citizens.
Pickles were everywhere. There were free pickles, pickles on sticks, and every single kind of pickle-themed food you could possibly think of, from the classic fried pickles, to pickle potato chips, to pickle pizza, to pickle cupcakes. Most pickle vendors had barrels of pickles for sale. There are more kinds of pickles out there than I would have ever guessed. Not only were there pickles, but all things pickled. There were salsas and condiments and also a variety of non-pickle themed foods for sale. There was even a Home Pickling Contest.
Pickle Day featured a number of activities and events. There was a Tammany Hall DJ stage that featured DJ Bruce Tantum, DJ Kai Song, Gil K/NOSI Music, Ellen Kaye and the Moscow 57 Band, and DJ Hurrikeen. There was a Yelp Lounge. There were DJ lessons provided by Scratch DJ Academy. There was a Nicky Digital photo booth at The L.I.S.A. Project paint-out, featuring a pickle mural by Bishop 203. There were animal adoptions thanks to Heavenly Angels Animal Rescue. There were workout demonstrations thanks to Manny Cantor Center. There was face painting, pumpkin decorating, and a make-your-own-salsa station.
There was an additional stage called the Pickle Party Tent. This stage featured performances and activities by a number of comedy groups. The first group was Fantasy Grandma. Fantasy Grandma are a comedy duo consisting of two young women who dress up like Grandma’s – hair, clothing and makeup – and perform a musical act where they rap, because what else would they do. Their slogan reads, “We are your grandmas. We’ll save your life with our raps. You never visit but we still love you.” One of their shticks is giving out “checks” to their grandchildren in need. They wrote me a check for $3.72 for “college and drugs”. Fantasy Grandma led a game of Cat Bingo, which is essentially just bingo with various cat-themed prizes (cat toys, cat costumes, etc.) with the grand prize being a real life cat. This real life cat turned out to be a six-foot man dressed as a cat. After Cat Bingo, they performed their rapping musical act.
Following Fantasy Grandma was the Punderdome Pickle Day Pun-Off. Willing participants were handed over sized name tags and instructed to write their pickle-themed pun names. They then got on stage one by one and delivered their best set of pickle-themed puns. Two finalists were chosen: a young Orthodox Jewish man, “Meetclever” and an eight-year-old boy, “Mr. Half Sour”. The winner was chosen by whomever the onlookers clapped louder for, and Mr. Half Sour came out victorious, winning a toilet seat, while the runner up took home a land line telephone with over sized buttons.
Pickle Day 2014 was a complete success to be enjoyed by all. A true “only in New York” happening. Look out for next year’s event; I know I will surely be there. Check out my pics from Pickle Day below.