Brookline Day 2017 Is Here: What To Know

BROOKLINE, MA — Each year near the end of summer or the beginning of fall Brookline hosts a festival with the aim of building community and residents have in increasing numbers made their way to Larz Anderson Park to wander the grounds visiting food trucks, bounce houses and various town-related vendors and maybe show up to beat their time last year in the morning road race.

Last year roughly 5,000 people showed up to the sixth annual community festival - and it rained. The folks at Brookline Recreation say they expect a similar crowd this year.

"We expect about the same this year or maybe more since the weather looks perfect!" said Sara Nelson of Brookline Recreation in an email to Patch.

In response to some confusion about shuttle buses from town to Larz and some satellite parking in 2014, the rec department adjusted a bit in 2015 year to some success, according to Nelson for the past two years. The only change from last year is that folks can now park all day at The Park School.

Speaking of new this year...
Last year the recreation department added more giant lawn games to the day’s line up after last year’s lawn game success. Giant Connect Four and giant Jenga will be back this year. But the new thing the rec department is looking forward to?

"We have new trucks in touch-a-truck, new food trucks (one is brand new!), a water slide (on the hill) and a distracted driving simulator from the Norfolk Sheriff’s Dept," Nelson told Patch.

• Rock Climbing Wall
• Pie eating contest
• Bungee Trampoline
• Lawn Games
• Oversized board games
• Inflatable Bounce Houses
• Henna Tattoo Artists
• Face Painters
• Balloon Artists
• Photo Booth
• Glitter Artists
• Touch a Truck - Brookline DPW, Fire Dept. and Police Dept.
• Waterslide
• Distracted Driving simulator

How it started

Brookline Day is a bit of a reincarnation of the two decade-long Brookline Flag Day festival, which used to run at the beginning of the summer. Flag Day ran for 21 years before it dwindled to a halt on account of waning attendance. The event came back when town officials were looking at doing away with the Memorial Day parade, because of scheduling and cost issues. Jesse Merrill, chairman of the Brookline Board of Selectmen at the time, moved a proposal to do away with a parade and move toward a day event, and floated a Flag Day event. At first, the event was run on donations, but by near its end, the town paid about $20,000 to make it happen. In total, the Flag Day festivities cost $35,000. Last year the budget for the cost-neutral event was about $65,000.

Transportation and Parking?

http://www.brooklineday.org/tr...

When: Sunday, Sept. 24. - begins at 11 a.m.

Road Race: Day of registration will start at 7 a.m. for the Kids 1K Race (start time 8 a.m.) and 7:30 a.m. for the 5K Road Race (start time 8:30a.m.) at the Park School. They will be doing a limited number of registrations the day of registration. It is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED that you pre-register for the road race online. Day of registration will cost $35 for the 5K and $20 for the kids 1K.

Where: Larz Anderson Park near the car museum. (road race at the Park School)

Photos of Brookline Day 2016 by Jenna Fisher