Mark your calendars for DTE’s annual extravaganza, by Nathan Weiser

Dance Theatre Etcetera (DTE), which is at 480 Van Brunt Street, will have their 24th annual “Red Hook Fest: We Push Forward” event on Friday June 9 and Saturday June 10. It is a two day festival that will feature live music and dance on the Brooklyn waterfront in Red Hook.

According to Heather Harvey, who is the Marketing Associate for DTE, this is Red Hook’s largest event and it brings world-class artists, youth performers, free community activities and resources to an audience of over 4,000 people.

“Founded in 1994, DTE is an award-winning, nationally recognized non-profit dedicated to making the arts a vital component of community change in low-income communities throughout New York City,” Harvey wrote to the Star-Revue. “DTE offers robust, arts-centered in school, after school and community based programming that helps young people become change makers in their own lives, their schools and their communities.”

The opening night Community Cook Out and DJ Dance Party will be on Friday, June 9 (5:30 pm to 8:30 pm at P.S. 15 (71 Sullivan Street) and the Festival and Main Stage Events will be on Saturday, June 10 from 2:00 pm to 7:00 pm at Louis J. Valentino, Jr. Park & Pier (Coffey & Ferris Streets). Both events on Friday and Saturday are free and open to the public.

Planning for this festival gets started in January for the June weekend. Executive Director Martha Bowers always enjoys having a varied mix of people contribute to the planning of Red Hook Fest and thinks everyone’s voice helps the event come to fruition.

“I love that we always have a great mix of people at the table,” Bowers said. “We have young adults who have grown up on the Red Hook Fest stage, local leaders from the Red Hook Houses, DTE staff and outside production staff.”

The performers this year will include the musical spoken word duo Climbing PoeTree, the theatrical contemporary dance group The Dash Ensemble, Princess Grace Award winning choreographer Loni Landon and the Longi Landon Dance Project as well as the electrifying Dabka and Zaffa team, Freedom Dabka Group.

Bowers often hears from people who attend the festival that they in particular love the diversity and inclusiveness of the weekend. They work hard on the design and putting together the performers to make the event welcoming for everyone, which seems more important than ever now, according to Bowers.

“I am excited to have the powerful voices of Climbing PoeTree gracing our stage,” Bowers said. “I love this spoken word duo. They are smart and talented and can make you actually see and feel what a more just, healthy and sustainable world could be. We will also have our first Muslim performers, the Freedom Dabka Group, who will share traditional dance forms from Palestine.”

This is an opportunity for Red Hook to come together for a summer jump-off event. In addition to the spoken word and musical and dance performers, there will be free activities like kayak rides in the New York Harbor, face-painting, and an interactive scavenger hunt.

Residents of Red Hook will come to this event, and residents from outside the area will travel to come to this weekend festival. Red Hook Fest highlights a truly one-of-a-kind neighborhood filled with art galleries, great food, and beautiful urban landscapes.

Bowers thinks that it is a family like atmosphere when the planning crew gets together on festival production days.

“Many crew are former DTE students and some crew members have continued to come back to help out for years,” Bowers added. “This year, we have crew members flying in from Italy and California. That sense of community makes the hard work of pulling this event off each year a real joy.”