Community Corner

The Early Word: A Very Brooklyn Fat Tuesday

Where to get your drink on before Lent.

1. Call it Carnival or Mardi Gras—by any name, it's one of the best parties of the year. Yes, today is Fat Tuesday, the last day of excess before the traditionally austere period of Lent leading up to Easter on the Christian calendar. And though there seems to be a dearth of celebrations in Fort Greene-Clinton Hill proper, we dug up two options nearby in Park Slope and Gowanus.

Mardi Gras, featuring High and Mighty Brass Band and Royal American Social Aid & Pleasure Club. Union Hall, 702 Union St. between Fifth and Sixth avenues. 7 p.m. $20.

Mardi Gras Day, featuring Underground Horns. Bell House, 149 7th St. between Second and Third avenues. 8 p.m. $8.

Find out what's happening in Fort Greene-Clinton Hillwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

2. Rufus Wainwright's first foray into opera, "Prima Donna," meditates on the fine line between fame and failure. Brooklyn Academy of Music, 30 Lafayette Ave. 7:30 p.m.

3. The Safe OUTside the System collective, an anti-violence program led by and for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Two Spirit, Trans, and gender non-conforming people of color, invites allies and friends to fight violence at their Volunteer Night. The Audre Lorde Project, 85 S. Oxford St. 7 p.m.

Find out what's happening in Fort Greene-Clinton Hillwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

4. The Fiction Book Group discusses Rafael Yglesias’s novel, "A Happy Marriage," an autobiographical and devastatingly raw appraisal about what it means for two people to spend a lifetime together. Greenlight Bookstore, 686 Fulton St. 7:30 p.m. 

5. Alternate side parking rules are in effect.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Fort Greene-Clinton Hill