{"id":215943,"date":"2026-04-30T21:28:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T21:28:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/215943\/"},"modified":"2026-04-30T21:28:18","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T21:28:18","slug":"nyc-tape-fair-returns-to-bushwick-on-may-3-brooklyn-paper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/215943\/","title":{"rendered":"NYC Tape Fair returns to Bushwick on May 3 \u2022 Brooklyn Paper"},"content":{"rendered":"

The NYC Tape Fair<\/a> is back in Bushwick on May 3 with cassettes, VHS tapes and vinyl galore.<\/p>\n

Founded just last year by Anthony Morton and Ricardo Marrero, the fair celebrates the glories of physical media in an increasingly digital age.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

Ahead of the inaugural NYC Tape Fair last year, Morton told Brooklyn Paper<\/a> that he felt people were growing tired of endless streaming and music subscriptions, and yearning to return to a simpler time.<\/p>\n

He seemed to prove himself right, as the 2025 fair drew more than 1,000 people in just six hours, which \u201cway exceeded our expectation,\u201d Morton said.\u00a0
\n\"nycThe inaugural NYC Tape Fair in 2025 drew more than 1,00 people.Photo courtesy of NYC Tape Fair\n<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s fair is even bigger, with more than a dozen vendors slated to hawk their wares at Selva<\/a>, a combination record store-art gallery-cafe on Willoughby Avenue.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sellers including Night Owl Video, Familiar Face Records and thrift shop Grandpa\u2019s Digs will be selling everything from vintage and hard-to-find VHS tapes to used vinyl to \u201cexperimental\u201d new tunes released exclusively on cassette.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Independent collectors \u2014 including Morton himself \u2013 will show off their niche wares too. Last year, Morton\u2019s biggest sellers were bootleg Bob Dylan VHS tapes he thought no one would want, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This year, the Tape Fair has some new vendors, like the Berlin-based Awesome Tapes from Africa.\n<\/p>\n

\u201c[Awesome Tapes] re-presses older Afro-rock stuff that is either not on tape, hard to find, or the records are hundreds if not thousands of dollars,\u201d Morton said. \u201cIt kind of makes that more accessible, I\u2019m really excited. Definitely going to spend a bunch of money there.\u201d<\/p>\n

He was also thrilled to welcome Academy Records<\/a>, a massive Manhattan-based music and video shop he described as an \u201cinstitution,\u201d and cassette shop Tape Head City<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"nycMore than a dozen vendors will be selling vintage and hard-to-find VHS tapes, cassettes and vinyls along with more recent treasures. Photo courtesy of NYC Tape Fair<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has tons of re-presses of really classic stuff and vintage stuff, like a huge, huge massive collection,\u201d Morton said of Tape Head. \u201cWe really wanted him in the first year, couldn\u2019t work it out, but it did work out this year.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Returning vendor Found Footage Festival will be showing off part of their massive collection of old and obscure video, and the fair will have a soundtrack of live video on VHS tapes and music on cassettes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While physical media has been slowly getting less popular for decades \u2014 replaced by massive online streaming platforms with massive, instant collections of music, movies and TV \u2014 there has been a surge in demand for vinyl, cassettes and DVDs in recent years.<\/p>\n

Vinyl and DVD sales are up among Gen Z and Millenials, respectively, according to the LA Times<\/a>, and many Americans still regularly listen<\/a> to CDs or watch movies on DVD and Blu-Ray. Streaming services are convenient but unstable. Movies and TV shows shift from platform to platform and are sometimes deleted altogether<\/a> to save money, and a number of music artists have left platforms like Spotify<\/a> either temporarily or forever. Many Americans would rather buy a single copy of their favorite movie or CD, rather than pay for multiple streaming services and risk losing access when something gets axed.<\/p>\n

\"tapesPhysical media is growing in popularity. File photo courtesy of NYC Tape Fair<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that sentiment is continuing to rise,\u201d Morton said. \u201cThe popularity of not tape, but the Criterion Collection, people are wanting to own their movies, own their music.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The NYC Tape Fair is perfect not just for seasoned physical media collectors, he said, but for newcomers too. Entry is free, and while prices of goods vary, there will be a pay-what-you-want section, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYou could walk in with $2 and walk out with a handful of things,\u201d he said. \u201cI think it\u2019s going to be absolutely electric.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

NYC Tape Fair<\/a> returns for one day only on Sunday, May 3, from 12-6 p.m. at Selva, 1329 Willoughby Ave. in Bushwick. Admission is free, prices vary.\u00a0<\/p>\n