Riders have to supply their own power on Velocipede Bicycle Carousel on Governors Island (photo by twi-ny/mdr)
A CELEBRATION OF VINTAGE CARNIVAL RIDES & CAROUSELS
Governors Island
Saturdays & Sundays through September 29, free, 10:30 am – 6:30 pm
Rides: $3 each, ten for $25
www.feteparadiso.com
www.govisland.com
fête paradiso slideshow
Labor Day weekend might signal the traditional end of summer, but the season is still going full tilt on Governors Island, highlighted by the U.S. debut of Fête Paradiso, a charming, delightful collection of French carnival rides and other amusements. In September 2011, cookware designer Francis Staub purchased more than half of the Fabienne & François Collection of Fairground Art, including vintage carousels and games. Staub teamed up with fellow collector Régis Masclet, who, along with his sons, Adrien and Thibault, helped restore the historic works, getting many of them in good enough shape to be enjoyed by the public once again. The result is that the Nolan Park section of Governors Island has been transformed into a late-nineteenth, early-twentieth-century French carnival, with museum-quality rides, attractions, and games, along with food courtesy of Le Gamin. Through September 29, visitors can take a spin on the flying chairs and boat swings; listen to the Limonaire brothers’ 1910 Automated Pipe Organ, which is operated by punch cards; play the Music Hall Ball Guzzler, trying to toss rings onto the hands or throw balls into the mouths of wooden caricatures of such figures as Charlie Chaplin, Maurice Chevalier, Josephine Baker, and others; take an up-and-down ride on the white horses of the Super Carrousel [sic]; have lunch inside an open-air 1900 Bumper Car Pavilion; go for a spin, both forward and backward, on the Chinese Dragon Carousel; catch a live performance in J. Vangoorlaecken’s Babydream music kiosk; and check out the nonfunctional Small Horse Carousel, which features an array of curios that go well beyond the usual horses to sit on. Indeed, there are fascinating things to see everywhere you look, so be sure to take your time while wandering around the area.
Fête Paradiso features a vast array of unique carnival elements on Governors Island (photo by twi-ny/mdr)
The centerpiece is the Bicycle Carousel, or Velocipede, which was built in Paris in 1897 as a way to encourage people to use bikes, which were still relatively new; the speed of the ride is dependent upon how fast the riders pedal, first going forward, then going backward, which is significantly more difficult. Tickets for each ride are $3, with a pack of ten costing $25, and it’s all a whole lot of summer fun. In addition to Fête Paradiso, there are plenty of other activities continuing on Governors Island, including the interactive Figment Sculpture Garden, the Mü-Math Mobile Unit, the Earth Matter compost outpost, the Brooklyn Library’s Pop-Up Library, the 4 Heads Art Fair, the NYC Unicycle Festival (August 31 – September 1), special tours, and art displays from the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (“Terreform”), the Children’s Museum of the Arts, ICP and the Museum of the City of New York (“Rising Waters: Photographs of Hurricane Sandy”), the Sculptors Guild (“Rising Tide”), Empire Historic Arts (“Shipwrecked! A History of Maritime Disasters in NYC Harbor”), and the New-York Historical Society (“WWII & NYC: Photography and Propaganda”), all of which are free.