A coworker was recently telling me that he and his wife avoid the crowds at Coney Island and the Rockaways by limiting their summer beachgoing activities to Brighton Beach, and I was instantly intrigued because, after a decade of living in Brooklyn, I can still count on one hand the times I’ve ventured out to that neck of the woods. If you are similarly uninitiated, Sunday’s 43rd annual Brighton Beach Jubilee Festival, a block party/street fair celebrating the richness of this diverse neighborhood, is a good opportunity to get the lay of the land. From 10am-6pm, you can sample all kinds of delicious international food from local vendors representing the neighborhood’s array of ethnic groups, which include Russian, Turkish, and Pakistani immigrants, among others. There will be live music from bands performing on multiple stages, as well as activities for kids and more. Read our own guide to Brighton Beach before you go, and don’t forget your bathing suit either—if the hordes of sweaty masses who insist on blaring music at Jacob Riis have been getting you down this summer, you just may have found your new beach!