The Great Googa Mooga Festival

Maybe it should be called the "Mediocre Googa Mooga," or the "Just Okay Googa

Mooga." The "Eh? Googa Mooga"? People seemed to have had a lot of things to

complain about this weekend at Prospect Park's first big festival. The Facebook rants

this Monday morning were specifically non enthusiastic about the way the fest

panned out. I beg to differ. The first thing to keep in mind is that even though it was

put on by the Bonnaroo crew, The Great Googa Mooga was still a festival virgin:

Things are supposed to go wrong the first time around. And then of course hopefully get

better the next year. Yes, the lines to get food and drinks were way, way too long.

Waiting for 45 minutes for a $15 Luke's Lobster Roll and then being told to come

back later because they ran out of bread? Amateur hour. And the cell phone

service sucked which, of course, was another thing to complain about.

But listen, I've been to a lot of festivals. A lot of big well-oiled machines and a lot of

small funky parties trying to build a following. I have to say, all things considered,

the people behind Googa did a very good job. The beer and wine tents were

impressive, ranging from Kelso, to Pretty Things, to a special brew from Brooklyn

Brewery created just for the Mooga. The wine tent (thankfully a little less crowded)

brought in local favorites like Red Hook Winery and Gotham Wines, in addition to

classic roses from the Basque and crispy whites from the Alsace.

Getting down to the food: A really great selection of favorite restaurants in

Manhattan and Brooklyn. Blue Ribbon fried chicken, Roberta's pizza, Vinegar Hill

House, Dumont Burger, Russ & Daughters – the list goes on. Nothing was short of

fantastic, and even the stands that had short or no lines at all were still awesome. I

had an amazing Thai sausage from DBGB's that I picked up for the wait at Roberta's.

Spotted Pig's burger tasted almost as good as it does at the West Village location.

And Do or Dine's Foi Gras Doughnuts were, well, as interesting as you might suspect.

Besides the savory, there were also installments of sweets: Momofuku Milk Bar and

Big Gay Ice Cream just to name a couple. Third Rail Coffee, Brooklyn Soda Works,

and People's Pops, were also in the mix, as was an information booth dedicated to

local farming communities and how to get involved. There was no food or drink

experience left unturned.

Overall, there were a lot of great options for what to eat and drink

throughout the day. It was a free festival, allowing people to sample some things they

may have otherwise not had an opportunity to try; to see some music, and lay out

blankets with friends and enjoy the beautiful weekend weather. Sure, a few things

could have been done differently, but come on folks, let's give the Mooga a free pass

here and be thankful to live in a place where this kind of stuff is just

another "option" for the weekend.