Great Googa Mooga Food And Music Festival Kicks Off
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The weekend-long festival known as the Great Googa Mooga was under way in Brooklyn's Prospect Park on Friday.
Tickets are sold out for the massive food and music festival, with more than 90,000 foodie and music fans taking over part of the park.
Festival co-founder Jonathan Mayers of Superfly promised a better experience for festival-goers in its second year.
"We added more restaurants. We've also simplified it where every restaurant vendor has one option," Mayers told WCBS 880's Marla Diamond.
Great Googa Mooga Food And Music Festival Kicks Off
"We are serving our porky melt. It's a homemade cheddarwurst sausage patty with grilled onions, yellow mustard and toasted rye."
"We are making a meatball BLT. BBLT. Baconballs, lettuce and tomato."
But not everyone is excited about the Great Googa Mooga.
Many people who live near Nethermead Meadow said it's not the crowds that they're opposed to, it's the mess they say will be left behind.
"It was a mess. There were huge scars all over the grass. The smell of garbage lasted for weeks, the smell of outhouse lasted for weeks, and the park was pretty crowded and desecrated after," Park Slope resident Carrie Sogg told CBS 2's Janelle Burrell.
Many neighbors complained that some of the grass is still destroyed from last spring's dense crowds.
"We're very conscious that we do have an impact," Mayers told Burrell.
Festival organizers said they've tried to make amends, like paying $50,000 to reseed the grass and repave some of the paths.
And they said there are some modifications this year.
"We also changed the layout a little bit which helped the access really making sure we kept trucks off of the grass area. We're really conscious about that," Mayers added
The Prospect Park Alliance will make $75,000 from the event.
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