Today I headed to Dumbo for the third time this week. So I know my photographs are getting a bit similar – but let’s be honest, can you ever get too much of this skyline?P1090896

I went there to check out the Dumbo Arts Festival – a free three-day festival scattered among the streets and museum spaces at the base of the Manhattan Bridge in Brooklyn. I arrived as the sun was setting and wandered along the waterfront – and the outdoor parts of the festival were more than enough to entertain me for a couple of hours.P1090861 P1090860 P1090874 P1090878 P1090881

I particularly liked how the festival used the water rather than just the parks and streets. The largest piece floating on the East River was The Ship of Tolerance – an old-fashioned vessel with more than 100 images on its sail. These paintings were created by city school kids aged between 5 and 13 who were asked to represent what ‘tolerance’ meant to them. Their artwork was then stitched together and added to the boat, which was built by a team from Manchester in the UK. It bobbed on the water just off the Brooklyn Bridge Park, giving a new addition to the skyline.P1090885 P1090890 P1090897 P1090899

Unlike a lot of the other art at the festival, this piece is staying until October 8.

I wandered the blocks and saw photographs representing New York’s real superheroes, graffiti work by huuge artists such as Shepard Fairey and a collection of little flags that were supposed to show Chelsea Manning’s face when put together – but unfortunately it was a little too windy to work.P1090910 P1090911 P1090915 P1090922 P1090928 P1090853 P1090864 P1090867 P1090868 P1090862 P1090905 P1090934 P1090931

I’ve loved Dumbo ever since visiting for the first time in the summer for Smorgasburg and a ride on Jane’s Carousel. And it was brilliant to see crowds swarming the streets making the most of this gorgeous little corner of Brooklyn.