Creatures of the Canal: A Bioluminescent Block Party
Join this Gowanus community event celebrating the reopening of the Carroll Street Bridge!
This day of cross-canal connections celebrates the reopening of the Carroll Street Bridge. Built in 1899 and closed for repairs since 2021, the Carroll Street Bridge is one of the city’s oldest, and one of only four retractable bridges remaining in the US.
To mark the occasion, enjoy family-friendly festivities that span the Gowanus Canal. Creatures of the Canal is a collaboration of Arts Gowanus, Gowanus Dredgers Canoe Club, Mookntaka, The Shop BK, and Van Alen Institute. The event is free and open to all; RSVPs are recommended at luma.com/creatures.
Rain date: Saturday, July 25. Follow @artsgowanus @mookntaka @theshopbk @van_alen on Instagram for any day-of updates.
Event Schedule
11–3 pm: Free Canoeing & Art Activities @ Gowanus Dredgers Boathouse
162 2nd St, Brooklyn
Hop into a Gowanus Dredgers canoe and paddle at your own pace inside the protected Gowanus Canal. Experience the changing neighborhood from a new perspective, practice your paddling skills, or take a guided audio tour and learn more about the history, cleanup and revitalization of our favorite urban waterway. Pop inside the boathouse for costume making, an art exhibit, and other activities.
4–9 pm: Block Party @ 420 Carroll
420 Carroll St, Brooklyn
Hosted by The Shop BK, this festive afternoon features art-making demonstrations by local artists, games, and other family-friendly activities from local organizations including Brooklyn Builders, Gowanus Canal Conservancy, Hey Clay, and Leroy’s Place, who will feature their newest large-scale puppet. Refreshments will be for sale from local businesses.
4–7 pm: Creature Costume-Making
420 Carroll St
With materials provided by Arts Gowanus, create your own Creatures of the Canal costume or tote bag. Bioluminescent, fluorescent, and light-up costumes are highly encouraged! Transform yourself into an edgy egret, a harried heron, a crabby crab, a jaunty jellyfish, a yummy mummichog, a poised porpoise, a radioactive rat, a rabid raccoon, the legendary Sludgie the Whale, or any fantastical canal creature you fancy. Adorn yourself in faux fur, feathers, flippers, scales, sequins… Create your most wondrous and bizarre creations to life, then wear them at the party! If you'd prefer to make your costume in advance, you're still welcome to join the party and costume contest.
7 pm: Costume Contest
420 Carroll St
The costume-making fun culminates with a contest open to all. Strut your bioluminescent stuff before a panel of local judges, and celebrate the immense creativity of Gowanus residents!
8 pm: Mookntaka’s Friends from the Canal… ON the Canal
Carroll Street Bridge and 420 Carroll St promenade
Have you spotted Mookntaka’s three Friends from the Canal around Gowanus? This multi-site public art installation imagines gentle creatures — known as Loofa, Shelby, and Pebbles — emerging from the Gowanus Canal to meet their neighbors. For this one-night-only return to the water, gather on the newly-reopened Carroll Street Bridge or 420 Carroll’s promenade to watch the Friends float down the canal with the Gowanus Dredgers Canoe Club.
9 pm: Afterparty @ Gowanus Dredgers Boat House
165 2nd St
Wind down the night with some good old-fashioned canal-side socializing.