News From The Queens Tourism Council
The Queens Tourism Council (QTC) realizes that nobody would confuse local streets with the Appalachian Mountains or a rice farm in Vietnam. However, the country’s only rural film festival will open in Astoria on Friday, Aug. 3.
It’s the only indoor activity to make the QTC list for this outdoororiented week, which includes music, dancing, marching and the silver screen.
– Friday through Saturday, Aug 3- 5, Rural Route Film Festival. Opening night features a screening of Baraka, a video essay posing nature versus human civilization. Then, get ready for Upside Down, a familyfriendly drama about a country boy’s visit to Mumbai, India’s most populous city; the NYC premiere of The First Season, which chronicles a family that leaves the city to run a dairy farm; the U.S. premiere of How Are You Doing, Rudolf Ming?, a portrait of a Latvian boy obsessed with violence; and a preview of Now, Forager, indie fiction about a marriage revolving around mushroom foraging.
Museum of the Moving Image, 36-01 35th Ave., Astoria, 718-777-6888. Free with museum admission, $9-$12 on opening night. (www.movingimage.us).
– Saturday, Aug. 4, 3 to 7:30 pm, Bix Beiderbecke Sunnyside Memorial Jazz Concert. Now in its 12th year, this annual concert honors the late Bix Beiderbecke, a local cornet player who is considered a pioneer of the soloist jazz genre of the 1920s. Scheduled performers include the South Shore Syncopators, David Shenton & The Sunnyside Wolverines and the Sunnyside Drum Corps.
The Sunnyside Arch, 46th Street and Queens Boulevard. Free. (www.sunnysideshines.org).
– Sunday, Aug. 5, noon, Ecuadorian Day Parade. Wear something yellow, blue and red (the colors of the Ecuadorian flag) and march on Northern Boulevard from 69th Street through 86th Street in Jackson Heights. Expect dancing in the streets, an array of street vendors and a very festive atmosphere. Free.
– Sunday, Aug. 5, 5 p.m., Summer Sundays at the Park. The colorful, energetic and engaging Calpulli Mexican Dance Company will perform. 78th Street between 34th Avenue and Northern Boulevard in Jackson Heights. Free.
– Tuesday, Aug. 7, 7 p.m., Live at the Gantries. The York College Big Band, an ensemble of students and staffers, will perform traditional jazz and everything else from the blues to swing to fusion. Long Island City Waterfront. Free. (www.liveatthegantries.com).
– Thursday, Aug. 9 (rain date Aug. 16), sundown, Rockaway Civic’s Beach Flix. Bring a towel and enjoy sand, salt air and a movie. Up is the animated tale of a man who dreams of exploring the globe. At age 78, he launches his house into the sky with thousands of balloons and discovers Russell, an overly optimistic 8-yearold stowaway. Beach 106th Street, Rockaway Beach. Free. (www.rockawaybeachflix.com).
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The “It’s In Queens” column is produced by the Queens Tourism Council with the hope that readers will enjoy the borough’s attractions.
