Siren Music Festival: A Perfect Excuse to Spend a Summer Saturday in Coney Island

Some good things in life are free. Some even give you more than you put in. It is also possible that the sum is greater than its parts....

Every year in the summer, the Village Voice puts together a music event called Siren Music Festival.

It's a huge event, with two stages against the boardwalk, separated by a the amusement park in Coney Island. Thousands of people spend half a day listening to many indie bands (mostly alternative, punk, loud music), all for free.

Actually, at the end of the day, I had at least a dozen free tees and other promotional gifts. In the following picture, these guys were printing (silkscreen?) tees on the spot. The black one is mine! Basically they had a screen, applied paint and pressure with a spatula; then they used a blow dryer to dry the printed design.

The freebies included ..body wash. Well, it was a very hot day, so it was appropriate. I'm sure these girls were promoting something but many of us failed to notice it. I don't think it had any educational value despite the word "college" appearing on signs & clothing . Hmmm... Interesting. Maybe colleges found a new way to recruit new students nowadays! We'll never know, until next year...

Music fans

There was music throughout but the bands started playing around noon and the event lasted until 10 or so. The trip back on the subway took about 45'--from Conney Island to midtown. Mass transit makes a lot of sense when you attend events where lots of people show up because traffic and finding parking is a nightmare.

Also, sun-blocking lotion is necessary as well as drinking lots of non-alcoholic beverages. Fortunately, at the Siren event there were lots of vendors who were giving away all sorts of drinks (no alcohol), most of them refreshing. I didn't care for the coconut-flavored water, or some kind of organic mush that was more suitable for a mud bath than a "smoothie."

Oh, and if you go to Coney Island, you have to try a couple famous Nathan's hotdogs, at least once. Here's a coupon for a free dog.