• About
    About
  • Live
    Live
  • Work
    Work
  • Play
    Play
  • Dine
    Dine
  • Shop
    Shop
  • Waterfront
    Waterfront
  • Get Around
    Get Around
  • Map
    Map
  • Press
    Press
  • Contact
    Contact
  • Free WiFi
    Free WiFi
  • About
    About
  • Live
    Live
  • Work
    Work
  • Play
    Play
  • Dine
    Dine
  • Shop
    Shop
  • Waterfront
    Waterfront
  • Get Around
    Get Around
  • Map
    Map
  • Press
    Press
  • Contact
    Contact
  • Free WiFi
    Free WiFi
Let’s Get Social
Back to Press

Stamford’s Harbor Point plans square dancing hoedown

September 27, 2016

STAMFORD — Grab a partner and get ready to swing them ’round — Harbor Point is hosting a square dancing night to wrap up its outdoor summer programming.

The hootenanny is the culmination of a summer-long urban programming
experiment in the redeveloped South End neighborhood, spearheaded by Biederman Redevelopment Ventures, a company best known for its revitalization of Bryant Park in New York City.

“I love square dancing … it’s a great way to get people to gather because it works for dates, but the small groups of four and eight that come with a Virginia Reel are also great for anyone who just wants to swing through and get to know people,” said BRV Chief Operating Officer Dan Biederman, whose work in Bryant Park garnered him national attention.

Biederman brought square dancing to Bryant Park after he discovered a “fun and patient” band caller working at a church in New Hampshire a few years ago. The Bryant Park square-dancing events started with crowds of about 200 people, but attendance has grown to as many as 1,000 at an event this month, Biederman said.

BRV will try to replicate that success in Stamford on Oct. 8 when event organizers will transform Harbor Point Square into a barnyard dance hall with hay bails, a live band and games of corn hole. The event will be held from 5 to 8 p.m.

Biederman is also bringing his band caller, Dave Harvey, who runs a barn dancing company in Brooklyn, N.Y., and calls all of Bryant Park’s square dances.

“When you do an event like this for the first time, you don’t always know how it’s going to go. The value for us here is that BRV has already done this in a lot of other spaces and it’s worked well,” said Ted Ferrarone, Building and Land Technology’s chief operating officer. “I think it will be a really fun event, and I hope it draws a lot of people down here.”

Summer programming

As Harbor Point’s residential development reached a critical mass this summer, developer BLT asked Biederman earlier this year to help revamp the more than 12 acres of public open space in its South End neighborhood.

Biederman led the redevelopment of Bryant Park in the early 1980s, after the area was stricken with violence and drug crime for most of the 1970s. He now advises several downtown redevelopment efforts in other U.S. cities.

Biederman and BLT have worked together since June to develop unique outdoor programs like the weekly “Yappy Hour” events for dog owners at Commons Park and outdoor fitness classes in the park and along the boardwalk.

“We’ve done much more this year than we’ve done in the past … a lot of it isn’t necessarily designed to draw big crowds; it’s designed to physically keep people in the parks for longer and improve their day-to-day experience outside their homes,” Ferrarone said.

Harbor Point also revamped its outdoor movie series this summer, extending it by four weeks and showing movies that appealed more to the millennial crowd. The movies drew about 100 people each week, according to BRV.

Other weekly activities, like free outdoor yoga and painting classes, each drew about 40 people.

“This summer was meant to be an experiment, and these attendance numbers are really promising for an early experiment. They are larger than other big cities we’re in like Newark (N.J.) and not far off the numbers we were hitting when we started things in Bryant Park,” Biederman said. “What used to just be dog walkers around Harbor Point is much more than that now.”

PREVIOUS POST
Your Guide to Harbor Point
NEXT POST
Fairfield County residents to rappel 22 stories for addiction awareness

Related News

Other posts that you should not miss

Who Makes the Best Cocktail in Stamford? You Help Decide @ Best Bartenders Contest from Stamford Magazine

June 10, 2015

Who do you think makes the best cocktail in Stamford? Well, Stamford Magazine is doing their best to find out with …

Read More →
1 MIN READ

Stamford Arts Festival back at Harbor Point

July 25, 2016

Could there be a more beautiful site for an upscale art show than a New England harbor in summer? That’s the …

Read More →
1 MIN READ

Stamford Magazine’s 2016 Best Bartender Contest

June 15, 2016

STAMFORD Magazine’s 4th annual Best Bartender Contest will take place at Stamford’s newly completed Harbor Point waterfront patio on Wednesday, June …

Read More →
1 MIN READ
LET’S CONNECT
For deals, specials and events in Harbor Point, text “HARBORPOINT” to 38470 and you will be added to the Harbor Point Newsletter.

Follow us on social media to stay connected.
NEWS
  • Sign of the Whale Receives 2019 Best of Stamford Award
  • Get to the (Harbor) Point: Exploring Stamford’s Crown Jewel on the Sound!
  • New Luxury Waterfront Residences Open In Stamford
  • Skin-care center to open in Stamford’s Harbor Point
  • How do you Tiki in Connecticut?
NEWSLETTER



Come to Harbor Point to find apartments for rent in Stamford CT. Select a new studio, 1 bedroom, 2 bedroom or 3 bedroom Stamford Apartments for you and your pet. Finding a luxury apartment is easy with numerous apartments in unique Harbor Point buildings, ranging from historic lofts to a waterfront tower.
Stamford's Harbor Point plans square dancing hoedown | Harbor Point