Up this weekend: Celebrating diversity in its many forms

By TimesLedger Staff

This weekend gives Queens residents the opportunity to express solidarity with all their neighbors, as well as sample the variety of cuisines and cultures that make up the borough. On Friday at 5:30 p.m. there will be a press conference and rally at Diversity Plaza, followed by a march through Jackson Heights to Corona Plaza as a way of launching a “Hate-Free Zone.” Neighborhood-based groups are holding the event to encourage people to take an active role in defending and protecting themselves in the face of increasing hostility toward immigrant groups, LGBTQ people and others. The many organizations taking part in this event are hoping it will help jump-start similar efforts in immigrant neighborhoods across the city and nationwide. With more than 50 co-sponsors and endorsers, from DRUM (Desis Rising Up & Moving) to Make the Road New York to Queens Neighborhoods United, a broad range of people and points of view will be represented in this effort to bring the borough together.

On Saturday, Rockaway Beach is offering up some of its tastiest culinary offerings in A Taste of Rockaway Beach. This traveling smorgasbord of neighborhood eateries has no start or end place; it’s a crawl at your pace in any order you choose. Participants will receive a sampling of food from every participating establishment, 17 in all. The event runs from 12 p.m. – 6 p.m, with establishments along Rockaway Beach Boulevard from 92nd Street to 102nd Street involved. The cost is $15 in advance, $20 day of event. For more information, go to www.rockawayunion.org.

And on Sunday afternoon, a diverse selection of music will be performed by the Queens Symphonic Band/Queensborough Community College Band. The ensemble consists of musicians who range in age from 15 to 85 and come from all walks of life. Under the direction of Dr. Bernard Rose, they will play pieces from such composers as John Philip Sousa, Carl Maria von Weber, Johann Sebastian Bach and Glenn Miller, plus a selection of Latin music. The concert is at 7 p.m. at the Queensborough Performing Arts Center, 222-05 56th Ave. in Bayside. The cost is $10, $8 for students and seniors.