Bagels are the common love language of New Yorkers of all ages, and yet, there's been very few singular events at which we can all come together to kvell about our favorite carbohydrate. But that will change this weekend, when NYC's premiere bagel-centric food festival, BagelFest, sets up shop in Brooklyn.
BagelFest will take place on Saturday, October 2nd, from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at BKLYN STUDIOS City Point in Downtown Brooklyn. Tickets start at $35, and grants you the ability to try 20+ bagels (and bagel-related foods) over the course of a three-hour session; for more money, you can get unlimited Brooklyn Brewery beers, Truly Hard Seltzer and Angry Orchard Hard Cider, as well as other amenities.
And the list of places taking part is an impressive spread of some of the city's best: Black Seed, Ess-a-Bagel, Utopia, Bantam Bagels, Bagel Boss, Tompkins Square, Terrace Bagels, Olde Brooklyn Bagel Shoppe, Zucker's Bagels, Bagel Chips, Greenberg’s Bagels, PopUp Bagels, Leo's Bagels, Sixteen Mill Bakeshop, and Bagel Pub.
(I would be remiss if I didn't point out that my personal favorite bagel place, Absolute Bagels, is not taking part this year. However, as long as no one offers St. Louis-style sliced-up bagel abominations, we can all live with this.)
There will be bagel yard games, a photo booth, a "bagel experts" panel, bagel-centric art, and a live musical performance from Kosha Dillz, who is responsible for "Ten Bagel Commandments," a bagel-themed remake of Biggie Smalls’ “Ten Crack Commandments.”
The event was started by Sam Silverman, better known as the face of Brooklyn Bagel Blog; he previously produced a Brooklyn BagelFest in Bushwick two years ago. You can see highlights from that event below (there was no fest in 2020 due to the pandemic).
You can get ticketing info for BagelFest here.
If you've got a serious case of bagels on the brain now, head to your nearest bagel shop, pick up a dozen, and follow our step-by-step tutorial on How To Make The World's Finest Gourmet Pizza Bagels:
