The Atlantic Antic is a street festival held yearly on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn, New York between 4th Avenue and Hicks Street. It is run and produced by the Atlantic Avenue Local Development Corporation (AALDC).[1] The festival features food and craft stands, booths representing companies and local nonprofits, live music, and other entertainment. In 2006, some 300 vendors and 300,000 people attended; in 2009, roughly 600 vendors and over a million people were estimated to have attended.[2] [3]
The fair has occurred each fall since 1974, except for 2001, when Mayor Rudy Giuliani canceled all NYC parades and fairs following the September 11 attacks; 2002, when a city policy on street closure prevented the AALDC from holding the fair and 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.[2] The fair runs for 10 blocks (over one mile) along Atlantic Avenue in the Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill, and Boerum Hill neighborhoods of Brooklyn.[4] The fair is mentioned in the Beastie Boys' 1989 song "Shadrach," from Paul's Boutique: "So I'm out pickin' pockets at the Atlantic Antic/ And nobody wants to hear you 'cause your rhymes are damn frantic."