Hi everyone!
The unofficial end of summer is here! There are a lot of events to entertain you and your family if you are in town this weekend!
The children can get back into the grove of school by checking out the Back to School Jam at the Brooklyn Children’s Museum and the Back to School Bash 2014 at Habana Outpost! Also happening this weekend is the annual NYC Unicycle Festival on Governors Island, US Open Viewing Picnic at Brooklyn Bridge Park, the Kiddies Carnival Parade 2014, the Sweet Spot Festival at Riverside Park South and the 22nd Annual Great North River Tugboat Race & Competition at Pier 84!
Don’t forget NYC Pools close on Monday and catch the last Fireworks on the Beach at Coney Island! These are just some of the events happening this weekend so check out the calendar and see what else is happening in Brooklyn & NYC! Please remember to check with venues to see if there are any schedule changes. Remember to like us on Facebook for last minute events and news!
Enjoy the long weekend!
~ Deirdre (mom to O & C)
Friday August 29th
BACK TO SCHOOL JAM! at Brooklyn Children’s Museum (Crown Heights)
Fri Aug 29th 11a-3p. All ages. Free with museum admission.
Celebrate going back to school – or starting school for the very first time! Join Brooklyn Children’s Museum as we launch Bright from Birth, an initiative to develop school-readiness skills in the littlest learners. Children of all ages are welcome for snacks, crafts, giveaways, dancing, and more!
Joe the Magic Man at Brooklyn Public Library (Eastern Parkway branch)
Fri Aug 29th 3p. Free.
Joe the Magic Man does tricks and acts that are enjoyable for all ages. From rabbits to doves, children will love to pet the animals involved in the show.
ICE CREAM HAPPY HOUR! at Lark Cafe (Flatbush/Prospect Park South)
Fridays between 4-5pm get $3 scoops of Blue Marble and $3 People’s Pops. Cool Haus ice cream sandwiches are just $4.99 (that’s 2 cookies and 2 scoops of ice cream in one sandwich). And don’t forget your ice cream loyalty card!
Fireworks on the Beach at Coney Island
Fri Aug 29th 930p. Free. Last chance to see them!
Fireworks shoot off at 9:30pm every Friday night during the season. Fireworks generally start the last weekend in June and conclude the Friday before Labor Day.
For more Friday events please click here!
Saturday August 30th
Kiddies Carnival Parade 2014 (Crown Heights)
Sat Aug 30th 9a-3p. Free.
Look out for the annual Kiddies Carnival parade winding through the heart of Crown Heights and ending at the Brooklyn Museum grounds. Show your support for youth presenters as they honor their culture.
Sweet Spot Festival at Riverside Park South
Sat Aug 30th 2p-9p. Free. Pier i.
Uptown’s Free arts & culture event for all the family. The Sweet Spot Festival is a FREE family friendly event series, bringing Harlem’s increasingly diverse community together to celebrate it’s rich historical legacy. Its purpose is to promote music,culture, art, and commerce. Here you will find an eclectic range of musicians, DJ’s, performance & visual artists, a mouth watering array of food & dessert vendors, kids activities, workshops and to-die-for vintage & jewelry selections. Reserve a picnic table , bring your good spirits & Dance! Music! Shop! Relax!
Reading with the Stars: Captain Underpants! at the Scholastic Store (SOHO)
Sat Aug 30th 3p. For ages 5 and up. Free.
To protect all that is pre-shrunk and cottony, Captain Underpants is flying into The Scholastic Store for a day of crafts, games, and fun! Catch a reading from the newest book, Captain Underpants and the Tyrannical Retaliation of the Turbo Toilet 2000 and then potty, ahem PARTY with the Captain himself!
NYC Parks Summer Movie Series: Despicable Me 2 at Brower Park (Crown Heights)
Sat August 30th 8-10p. Free.
See our city one movie at a time. Throughout July and August, NYC Parks is showing free movies in its parks and recreation centers! No RSVP required, just bring yourself and a blanket to sit on. In Despicable Me 2, Gru and the minions are back, this time to help the Anti-Villain League track down the most powerful criminal yet! Rated PG.
For more Saturday events please click here!
Sunday August 31st
Brazilian Day New York 2014 (Little Brazil)
Sun Aug 31st 10a-4p. Free.
Brazilian Day New York is an annual Brazilian street fair in Manhattan’s Little Brazil (46th Street between Fifth & Sixth Ave). Brazilian Day New York celebrates Brazil’s September 7th, 1822 declaration of independence from Portugal. Brazilian Day in New York 2014 is Sunday, August 31, 2014. The host again this year will be Brazilian TV personality Serginho Groisman. This year’s main acts are Zeca Pagodinho (Brazilian, 1959), a samba and pagoda singer/songwriter, and Gusttavo Lima (Brazilian, 1989) a sertaneja singer.
22nd Annual Great North River Tugboat Race & Competition at Pier 84 (Hell’s Kitchen, Midtown West)
Sun Aug 31st 10a at West 44th Street & Hudson River. Free.
Schedule of events: 10a Parade of tugs from Pier 84 to the start line, 1030a Race starts Just south of 79th Street Boat Basin near Pier I to Pier 84, 11a Nose to nose pushing contests and line toss competition, 12p Tugs tie up to Pier 84 for lunch and awards ceremony, exhibits, amateur line toss, spinach eating contest, 1p Awards ceremony. Tugs depart at about 2 PM.
Little Makers: Superhero Science at New York Hall of Science (Flushing)
Sun Aug 31st 1030a-1230p. Materials Fee: $8 per family (with paid general admission) $5 per family (with NYSCI membership).
Pow! Zoom! Wham! Discover the science behind superhero powers. Design, make and build your own super gadget to ward off villains and help you save the day.
Kid/Around with Hot Peas n’ Butter at the South Street Seaport
Sun Aug 31st 2-4p. Free. KidAround! at the South Street Seaport is a FREE family event series featuring live music, story-time with your favorite characters, games and more! Happening this Summer at See/Change. the Nickelodeon/Noggin TV favorites whom the Los Angeles Times lauded for their “hot and mellow multicultural groove,” is a unique, world-pop, family-oriented, musical group that brings fans to their feet. With hit videos like “Number 1” and “Deep Down” being featured on Nick Jr., Hot Peas ’N Butter are quickly becoming a family favorite! They are mainstays on Sirius Radio’s “Kids Stuff,” and proud recipients of the 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2012 Parent’s Choice Awards. By combining an interactive, invigorating approach to performance with mature, multicultural music, Hot Peas ’N Butter has developed a distinct way of inspiring care and creativity in kids and adults alike.
For more Sunday events please click here!
Monday September 1st
Pop Up Pool at Brooklyn Bridge Park
Mon Sep 1st 10a-6p for 45 minute sessions. Last Day for all NYC pools! Free.
A great way to beat the summer heat, the pool is 30- by 50 feet in size, and maxes out at an easy 3.5 feet deep—making it just right for families with smaller kids, too. Swimmers of all ages and levels are welcome to enter daily from 10 am to 6 pm for 45-minute sessions starting June 27. After your dip in the pool, you can relax in a lounge chair on the adjacent sandy beach. The Beach and Lizzmonade Brooklyn are open from 10 am to 11 pm. Lizzmonade Brooklyn serves fresh, artisanal lemonades that are made to order, and offers light, pool-side fare for kids and adults. After 6pm, fresh fruit sangrias, craft beer, and wine are on tap.
Back to School Bash 2014 at Habana Outpost (Fort Greene)
Mon Sep 1st 11a-3p. Free.
Bring the kids out for one last day of summer fun at Fort Greene’s favorite family eco-eatery! This year, there will be free glitter tattoos, stilt walkers, arts & crafts and much, much more!
West Indian American Day Carnival Parade
Mon Sep 1st 11a-6p. Eastern Parkway and Schenectady Avenue to Flatbush Ext.
Come experience the crown jewel of NY Caribbean Carnival week featuring costume bands, masqueraders, moko jumbies, floats, delicious Caribbean cuisine and much more.
Labor Day In Prospect Park
Mon Sep 1st 12n-6p. Free. Celebrate Labor Day in Prospect Park. Learn what it takes to become a naturalist! In addition to enjoying the Audubon’s exhibits and animal displays, take part in the Blooming Naturalist at 1p, Nature on the Go at 2p and Animal Encounter at 3p at the Audubon Center! Also happening Lefferts Historic House: Race Around the Farm Yard 2-4p ($3 suggested admission) Enjoy potato sack races, spoon races, stilts and other old-fashioned family fun and Prospect Park Carousel from 12n–6p. ($2 per ride, $9 for a book of 5 tickets). Enjoy a ride on the historic 1912 Carousel, which features 51 magnificently carved horses, a lion, a giraffe, a deer and two dragon-pulled chariots. See the website for more details.
For more Monday events please click here!
All Weekend
NYC Unicycle Festival on Governors Island
Sat Aug 30th & Sun Aug 31st 12n-5p. Colonel Row. Free.
NYC‘s Unicycle Festival rolls across New York City on Labor Day weekend. Last year‘s festival brought over 300 riders to the Big Apple and hundreds of people tried to ride a unicycle. The festival‘s main events takes place on Governors Island from 12pm—5pm on Saturday and Sunday. Activities include races, competitions, exhibitions, and a variety of unicycle sports including unicycle basketball and hockey. World-famous riders will display their skills, and members of the public will have the opportunity to try one—wheel riding.
US Open Viewing Picnic at Brooklyn Bridge Park
Daily 11a until match play ends from August 30th to September 8th. Free. At the Harbor View Lawn.
Join us to celebrate the US Open on Harbor View Lawn with a live stream of the matches and special giveaways
Victorian Garden at Wollman Rink (Central Park)
Daily until Sun Sep 7th various times and admission & ride prices varies by day. See website. Enter park from 59th St. and 6th Avenue.
Victorian Gardens will open its gates Memorial Day Weekend! Opening weekend times: May 24th 10a-9p, May 25th and May 26th 10a-8p. Victorian Gardens is a traditional family amusement park featuring one-of-a-kind handcrafted rides, games of chance, classic concessions, face painting and live entertainment.
CMA/Free Arts Island Outpost on Governors Island
Sat-Sun now until Sep 28th and Labor Day Sep 1st 11a-3p. For ages 1-15y. Free.
Join us as we spend the summer amongst the trees, with the crickets and cicadas, dreaming of far away spaces and surreal surroundings! Places with wonderful surprises and strange twists, where not making sense makes the most sense! Be prepared for theater games and film-making; painting, collage, and found object art; costume and prop-making; up-cycling, recycling, and re-purposing! And don’t forget: The Flubber Experience! Location: Governors Island, Outside Buildings 11 & 14 in Nolan Park.
Dinosaur Safari: Mysteries Revealed! at the Bronx Zoo
Now until November 2nd 10a-5p. Admission included in total experience ticket price. Dinosaur Safari: Mysteries Revealed! Nine new dinosaur species have been added this year including the deinonychus, prodohadros, stegosaurus, and edmontonia. Returning for the Dinosaur Safari: Mysteries Revealed, the ever-popular 40-foot long tyrannosaurus rex will send chills up the spines of Bronx Zoo adventurers. At the end of the experience, there is a field site that includes a fossil dig for children; a Tyrannosaurus rex photo-op; a paleontologist’s tent that includes a fossil museum; and an interactive robotic dinosaur that illustrates how the animatronics work.
Pterosaurs: Flight in the Age of Dinosaurs at the American Museum of Natural History (UWS)
Now until January 4th 10a-545p. Free with General Admission Plus One
In the new exhibition Pterosaurs: Flight in the Age of Dinosaurs, rare fossils, life-size models, and hands-on interactives bring these ancient animals to life. Step back in time to see pterosaurs, including giants such as Tropeognathus mesembrinus,with a wingspan of more than 25 feet, and find out how they moved on land and in the air. Get a first-hand look at the rare pterosaur fossils that have helped paleontologists learn all that we know about these animals. In a virtual flight lab, use your body to pilot a pterosaur over a prehistoric landscape. Encounter the exceptional creatures that flew in the age of dinosaurs.
Prospect Park Carousel Summer Hours
Now until September 1st 2014 Thu–Sun: 12n–6p. $2 per ride, $9 for a book of 5 tickets.
Kick off spring with a ride on the Park’s beautiful 102 year-old carousel. Located in the Park’s “Children’s Corner,” the Carousel features 51 magnificently carved horses, a lion, a giraffe, a deer, and two dragon-pulled chariots. Carved in 1912 by Charles Carmel, one of the foremost carousel designers of the time, and restored by the Prospect Park Alliance in 1990, the Carousel promises that classic summertime amusement will be available for generations of fun. In addition, the Prospect Park Carousel is one of the few in the world that is wheelchair accessible.
Pop-Up Audubon in Prospect Park
Saturdays & Sundays until October 19, 2014: 12n–5p. Free.
The Prospect Park Alliance presents Pop-Up Audubon, now in its second season, which invites families to directly engage with nature through outdoor learning in locations around the Park. JUNE: Incredible Invertebrates. Location: Entrance to the Ravine, downhill from the Picnic House
The Art of the Brick at Discovery Times Square (Hell’s Kitchen, Midtown West)
Now until Sep 7th. Sun-Tues 10a-7p, Wed & Thur 10a-8p, Fri & Sat 10a-9p. Tickets: $19.50/adult, $16.50 kids age 4-12y. The return of The Art of Brick!RT OF THE BRICK, and will feature a newly introduced gallery that showcases artist Nathan Sawaya’s In Pieces collection, a multimedia collaboration produced in tandem with award-winning photographer Dean West.
Sawaya’s original Art of the Brick exhibition is a critically acclaimed collection of intriguing and inspiring works of art made exclusively from one of the most recognizable toys in the world — LEGO® bricks. The Discovery Times Square exhibit will be the world’s biggest and most elaborate display of LEGO® art ever and will feature brand-new, never-before-seen pieces by Sawaya. Don’t miss the show named one of CNN’s Top 10 ‘Global Must-See Exhibitions.’
For a full calendar of events please click here!