Talk about horse play!
Thousands of East Flatbush families galloped to the Flatbush Avenue street fair on July 9, which promised shopping, games, food, and live entertainment with a Caribbean edge. But it was the prospect of free pony rides that really had local kids champing at the bit, organizers said.
“We had two ponies this year,” said Lauren Elvers Collins of local business group the Flatbush Avenue Business Improvement District, which puts on the annual Street Fair with Caribbean Flair between Parkside Avenue and Cortelyou Road. “I would say it was one of most popular.”
But although you can lead a horse to water, you can’t make it drink, and at least one neigh-saying tot required a little convincing before making hay with the equestrian entertainment, according to his mom.
“When he first got on the pony, at first he didn’t want to stay,” said local Candace Edwards, who came with her 2-year-old son Francisco Diaz, Jr. “But when they helped him ride on, he liked it and stayed.”
The fete was no one-trick pony, though — there was also a rock-climbing wall, bouncy houses, and slides, and a dunk tank that really made a splash in the summer heat, according to Elvers Collins.
“That was a huge hit,” she said.
Edwards says she attends every year and wild horses couldn’t drag her away from returning in 2017, though she has one wish for next year’s fair — more activities for really young kids.
“I definitely will come next year, but I want more kids activities for smaller kids,” she said.
