Hi everyone,
Hope everyone is having a fabulous Thanksgiving with their family and friends and excited for the long weekend.
This weekend there are many events that are happening all weekend so you have three days to fit it all in! Take the kids and enjoy Macy’s Santaland: Opening Weekend at Macy’s Herald Square, Holiday Weekend Family Programs at the New York Transit Museum, Fancy Nancy Splendiferous Christmas at The Theater at St. Jean, Thanksgiving Holiday in Prospect Park, Breakfast with Santa at Macy’s Stella 34 Trattoria, George Balanchine’s the Nutcracker™ at David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center, Pilobolus’s Shadowland at NYU Skirball Center For The Performing Arts and the Holiday Train Show at The New York Botanical Garden.
Also happening this weekend is the Annual Holiday Tree Lighting Ceremony in Park Slope, 3rd Annual Brooklyn Holiday Bazaar at 501 Union, The Commedia Rapunzel: Holiday Extravaganza Pumpkin Spice Edition at SoHo Playhouse, Living History Days: Thanksgiving Weekend at the New-York Historical Society, Little Club Heads 80’s Party at Verboten, Screening & Live Event: Cartoon Cats of the Silver Screen at the Museum of the Moving Image and Winter On A Flatbush Farm at Lefferts Historic House in Prospect Park
There are even more events on the calendar so check it out to see everything happening in Brooklyn & NYC this weekend! Also remember to like us on Facebook for last minute events and news!
Enjoy the long weekend!
~ Deirdre (mom to O & C)
Friday November 27th
Breakfast with Santa at Macy’s Stella 34 Trattoria
Friday-Sunday November 27th-November 29th 830a & 10a. Also happening Saturday-Sunday in December and Wednesday-Thursday December 23rd-24th. Pricing begins at $40 for children and $55 for adults (plus tax and gratuity) and varies based on date and time selected. This holiday season, bring Christmas to life for your family with a magical morning at Stella 34 Trattoria. Make their Christmas dreams come true when they meet and have breakfast with Santa Claus (and his elves) in the store that brought you the Miracle on 34th Street! Your experience includes: A delightful Italian breakfast feast (View Menu), Visit from Santa and his elves, Photograph with Santa Claus (a $39.95 value at Santaland), Takeaway treats, Carolers singing holiday favorites, A Prosecco Bellini for adults! Tip: The easiest way to reach Stella 34 Trattoria is from Macy’s Herald Square’s 35th Street and Broadway entrance where express elevators will whisk you to the 6th floor. See the website for all the details.
Thanksgiving Day Parade Floats at the Children’s Museum of Manhattan (UWS)
Friday-Sunday November 27th-29th. For all ages. Drop-in. Free with Museum admission. Every year thousands of people come to New York to watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade with its giant balloons and elaborate floats. Create your own 3D float inspired by some of the parade’s most famous designs.
Living History Days: Thanksgiving Weekend at the New-York Historical Society (UWS)
Friday November 27th – Saturday November 28th 11a-4p. Free with Museum admission. For all ages. The Third New Jersey Regiment will be back to the New-York Historical Society! Stop by the Museum this weekend to meet members of the Third, ask them questions about what life was like for a common soldier during the American Revolution, see their uniforms up close, and even handle some of their fascinating gear!
George Balanchine’s the Nutcracker™ at David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center (UWS)
Friday November 27th 8p. Length: Act I: 49 min. Act II: 41 min. Tickets start at $40. Ongoing until Sunday January 3rd. See website for additional dates/times.With over 200 performers, a one-ton Christmas tree that magically grows from 12 to 40 feet, hundreds of dazzling costumes, and a million watts of illuminated excitement, it’s no wonder the New York Post praises George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker™ as “the Christmas show of all Christmas shows.”
For more Friday events please click here!
Saturday November 28th
3rd Annual Brooklyn Holiday Bazaar at 501 Union (Gowanus)
Saturday-Sunday 11a-6p. Free admission. Brooklyn Holiday Bazaar is a unique holiday event hosted and curated by Brooklyn Makers. We’re kicking off Small Business Saturday with an amazing 2-day event that brings together the best of Brooklyn under one roof at 501 Union in Gowanus. The event is free to attend. You will find over 40 local makers to complete your holiday list with, delicious food from local favorites, free cocktails, cider and Health Ade Kombucha, live DJ, a professional photo booth… and this being Brooklyn, we’re making it fun for the kiddos with craft workshops for the little crowd both Saturday and Sunday.
The Commedia Rapunzel: Holiday Extravaganza Pumpkin Spice Edition at SoHo Playhouse
Saturdays 11a until December 26th and also Monday December 28th & Wednesday-Thursday December 30th-31st and Saturdays in January starting on the 9th. Tickets: Children under 13y $25 and adults $49. The Commedia Rapunzel: Holiday Extravaganza Pumpkin Spice Edition – This ain’t yo mama’s Rapunzel, y’all! After being a stand-out hit at the 2015 New York International Fringe Festival the Spaghetti and Meatball Players are back doing their hilarious zany re-telling of Rapunzel with a special campy holiday twist! Get ready to deck the halls, light the menorah, and grab your pumpkin spice latte, because you don’t want to miss this wild night of participatory theatre that is wacky, crazy, fun for the ENTIRE FAMILY! Douglas Carter Beane said, “As much for the parents as it is for the kids!” Purchase tickets here.
Fancy Nancy Splendiferous Christmas at The Theater at St. Jean (UES)
Saturdays-Sundays at 1p a starting November 28th until December 27th. For ages 2-7y. Tickets: $49.50-$59.50. What could be fancier than Christmas? Presents with elegant wrapping paper, festive decorations, Christmas cookies with sprinkles – and who could forget the tree? After all, there is no such thing as too much tinsel. Ooh la la! This year, Nancy is especially excited. After selling some of her old gowns and accessories, Nancy has enough money to buy a brand-new sparkly tree topper. She can’t wait to decorate the Christmas tree. But when things don’t turn out the way Nancy planned, will Christmas still be splendiferous?
Annual Holiday Tree Lighting Ceremony (Park Slope)
Saturday November 28th 630p. Free. Location: Corner of 4th Street and 5th Avenue (the event is free). Live Music: Rolie Polie Guacamole featuring Amelia Robinson from Mils Trills, Opera from 15 year old pop opera sensation Sarah Stevens, Carolers Opera on Tap. Treats: Sugar Cookies from Du Jour Bakery, Hot Chocolate from The Chocolate Room, Brownies from Le Pain Quotidien, Marcarons from Buttermilk Bakeshop, Popcorn from Popcorn Love! Arts & Crafts with Puppetry Arts and Prospect Park YMCA. Free: Broadway Show Ticket giveaway and High 5 for the Holidays Shopping Bags! A Lighting Show from Positron!! Also bring your gently used coats to donate to the NY Cares Winter Coat Drive 2015. Don’t forget Santa will be there too!!!
For more Saturday events please click here!
Sunday November 29th
Little Club Heads 80’s Party at Verboten (Williamsburg)
Sunday November 29th 12n-3p. Tickets: $15 or Family Pass 4 tickets $40. Take a trip back in time with Little Club Heads as DJs Amira & Kayla spin 80’s hits and today’s top 100 dance records. The party will feature a live performance by Strafe singing his club classic “Set It Off”, best 80’s dressed contest, dancing, live performances, face painting, family dance contest, break dance show,photo booth, Dance Crews, 9 year old twin djs amira & kayla, host mr.blue, and little club heads mascots nubby & bubby.
Winter On A Flatbush Farm at Lefferts Historic House in Prospect Park
Sunday 1-3p. $3 suggested donation. Get ready for winter as they did in the 19th-century farming village of Flatbush. Learn how to make a candle, watch a master spinster spin wool thread, and enjoy Dutch treats made at our outdoor hearth from a Lefferts family recipe. St. Nicholas will visit at 3 p.m.
Pilobolus’s Shadowland at NYU Skirball Center For The Performing Arts (Greenwich Village)
Sunday November 29th 2p. See website for more information on dates/times. Duration: 75 min. Tickets: $45-$75. Appropriate for all ages.
Please note that 8p shows include nudity. Following sold-out performances throughout Europe and Asia, Pilobolus’s Shadowland makes its North American Premiere at NYU Skirball. Pilobolus’s Shadowland is a mix of shadow theater, dance, circus, and concert, incorporating multiple moving screens of different sizes and shapes to create a performance that merges projected images with front-of-screen choreography. Shadowland was the first show of its kind to combine shadow theater with dance and has since inspired many similar productions around the world.
Screening & Live Event: Cartoon Cats of the Silver Screen at the Museum of the Moving Image (Astoria)
Sunday November 29th 2p. Tickets: $12 ($9 for senior citizens and students / free for members at the Film Lover level and above). All tickets include same-day admission to the Museum. Program duration: 90 minutes. While cats may be a ubiquitous entity in today’s social media landscape, their popularity in screen entertainment is no recent phenomenon. Through printed comics and animated cartoons, cats became wildly popular in entertainment more than a century ago. In this presentation of rare archival 16mm prints from the collection of animation historian Tommy José Stathes, feline cartoon superstars of the 1910s through the 1930s—such as Felix the Cat, Krazy Kat, and a host of other lesser-knowns—will be shown.
For more Sunday events please click here!
All Weekend
Holiday Weekend Family Programs at the New York Transit Museum (Downtown Brooklyn)
Friday November 27th – Sunday November 29th at various times. Free with Museum admission. For ages 4+. Subway Symphony 1130a-12n. A ride on the subway is sometimes like a musical performance – there are bell chimes, people chatting, and the whirr and hiss of wheels and brakes. Join us for an interactive “sound-along” to recreate joyful, noise travel by train. Red Bird Reef Painting 130-215p. Learn about recycling, subway style! Retired Red Bird subway cars took a dive into the Atlantic Ocean to form a new home for fish. Dive into this fun program and paint your own vibrant scene of an underwater world of recycled cars. Sounds-Portation Bingo 3-345p If you think you’ve heard it all when it comes to transportation in New York City, join us for a few rounds of transportation sounds-themed bingo game. We’ll match city sounds of travel with images and objects found at the Museum.
Thanksgiving Holiday in Prospect Park
Friday November 27th-Sunday November 29th 12n-3p. Free. Join the Prospect Park Alliance for holiday programming at Lefferts Historic House and the Audubon Center. Nature Exploration: join the Prospect Park Alliance for nature education programs at the Prospect Park Audubon Center, the first urban Audubon Center in the nation. Bird Nerds Game Hour, 1–2 pm: Test your knowledge of birds in this fun, mildly competitive hour of puzzles, Bingo, card games, and more! Nature on the Go!, 2–3 pm: An Alliance naturalist will lead children and families to areas near the Audubon Center, where you can learn about the nature that is all around us and participate in a Citizen Science project. Animal Encounter, 3–3:30 pm: Want to watch the snake gobble up a mouse? Join Alliance Naturalists in learning more about the animals in the Audubon Center’s collection and even assist in an actual feeding. Discovery Pack, 12–3 pm: The Prospect Park Alliance invites you to get inspired by nature with our new Discovery Packs, a ready-to-go kits filled with nature activities for families. Also Paper Quilting, 1–3 pm at Lefferts Historic House, $3 suggested donation. Now at Lefferts: Our annual show with the Brooklyn Quilters Guild is on display in the month of November. While you are here, make your own paper quilt collage to take home or add it to our community patchwork.
Macy’s Santaland: Opening Weekend at Macy’s Herald Square
Santaland Opening Weekend Hours: Friday 11/27: 7am-9pm, Saturday 11/28: 8am-9pm, Sunday 11/29: 10am-9pm. Santa is stopping by your favorite Macy’s! It’s the perfect opportunity to share everything on your holiday wish list. He’s only here for a limited time, so catch him while you can! Santaland is located on the 8th floor and is open until December 24th. See the schedule here.
Fancy Nancy Splendiferous Christmas at The Theater at St. Jean (UES)
Saturdays-Sundays at 1p November 28th-December 27th. For ages 2-7y. Tickets: $49.50-$59.50. What could be fancier than Christmas? Presents with elegant wrapping paper, festive decorations, Christmas cookies with sprinkles – and who could forget the tree? After all, there is no such thing as too much tinsel. Ooh la la! This year, Nancy is especially excited. After selling some of her old gowns and accessories, Nancy has enough money to buy a brand-new sparkly tree topper. She can’t wait to decorate the Christmas tree. But when things don’t turn out the way Nancy planned, will Christmas still be splendiferous?
Thanksgiving Day Parade Floats at the Children’s Museum of Manhattan (UWS)
Friday-Sunday November 27th-29th. For all ages. Drop-in. Free with Museum admission. Every year thousands of people come to New York to watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade with its giant balloons and elaborate floats. Create your own 3D float inspired by some of the parade’s most famous designs.
Holiday Train Show at The New York Botanical Garden (Bronx)
Ongoing until Monday January 18th. Various times and prices. See website for information. Advance reservations are strongly recommended as tickets do sell out. Purchase tickets here. NYC’s Favorite Train Show Is Bigger Than Ever! Enchanting model trains zip through a display of 150 landmarks, each re-created with bark, leaves, and other natural materials—all under the twinkling glow of the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory. Marvel at G-scale locomotives humming along among familiar sights such as the Brooklyn Bridge, Statue of Liberty, and Rockefeller Center—surprising at every turn—on nearly a half-mile of track. This year’s exhibition features 3,000 square feet of additional exhibition space, making room for dozens of new trains, bridges, and tracks; a captivating short film of the show’s behind-the-scenes magic; and a stunning multisensory finale of light and sound. Explore a winter wonderland across our 250 acres with special tours, musical performances, and activities for kids, plus take care of your gift list at NYBG Shop and stop for a bite at one of our exciting new dining venues. Don’t miss this one-of-a-kind holiday outing!
Gingerbread Lane at New York Hall of Science (Flushing Meadows)
Ongoing until Sunday January 9, 2016. Tuesday–Friday 930a–5p & Saturday & Sunday 10a–6p. Free with Museum admission. Museum closed on Thanksgiving Day & Christmas Day. Marvel at homemade gingerbread houses made entirely of edible gingerbread, royal icing and candy. The houses are drafted, designed, baked, planned, built and decorated by chef Jon Lovitch over the course of an entire year. GingerBread Lane has won the Guinness World Record for the largest gingerbread village for 2013 and 2014 and will compete for its third consecutive Guinness World Record this year. Lovitch’s creation will again contend for this year’s Guinness World Record. The all-new 2015 version of GingerBread Lane will cover 500 square feet and will have more than 1,050 houses and structures including a double-decker carousel reminiscent of one on the Coney Island boardwalk in days past and the S.C. Kringle & Co. Department Store which hearkens back to Gimbels department store in the early 1900s. GingerBread Lane 2015 will also have new twists like The Pumpkin Spice Latte Coffee Shoppe, The EveryDay’s Thanksgiving Café, a second train (for the first time), and a 10-square-foot candy factory you can see inside of as you climb the stairs to view GingerBread Lane. While the exhibition’s layout and composition change yearly, GingerBread Lane always includes Eggnog Bay, Gum Drop Row, Peppermint Central Park, Candy Cane Place and Toffee Boulevard. As a grand finale, Lovitch will give away all houses on January 10.
14th Annual Holiday Train Show at Grand Central Terminal (Midtown East)
Ongoing until February 21st. M–F: 8a–8p, Saturday and Sunday: 10a–6p. Free. Location: NY Transit Museum Gallery Annex and Store Shuttle Passage. Presented annually by the New York Transit Museum, this popular model railroad exhibition features Metro-North, New York Central, and subway trains departing from a miniature Grand Central Terminal on a 34’-long, two-level “O” gauge layout. The Museum’s store and booth at the Holiday Fair also offer great gifts for your holiday shopping. Transit gifts are available online at www.nytransitmuseumstore.com.
Cuba Vibra! at the New Victory Theater
FridaySaturday November 27th-28th 2p & 7p and Sunday November 29th 12n & 5p. See website for future weekend times. For ages 6+. Tickets start at $15. Performance: 95 minutes including one intermission. It’s a hot Havana night when Lizt Alfonso Dance Cuba brings the heat in an irresistible fusion of ballet, flamenco, cha-cha, rumba, conga, bolero and salsa. With superior synchronicity, 18 dancers fill the stage with flavorful finesse as they seamlessly dance in lockstep to the Afro-Cuban beats and vocal virtuosity of an on-stage big band. Celebrating Cuban music and dance from the ’50s to today, boisterous Latin rhythms electrify the air in CUBA VIBRA!
The 3 Bears Holiday Bash at Swedish Cottage Marionette Theatre (Central Park)
Ongoing until Wednesday December 30th. Showtimes are Monday – Friday 1030a & 12n with additional shows Wednesdays at 230p and Saturday and Sunday at 1p. Tickets are $7/children and $10/adults. The Three Bears Holiday Bash is a variety show that celebrates the holiday season in song, dance and puppetry. This production quickly becomes a comedy of errors when Baby Bear invites Santa to star in Mama and Papa Bear’s annual holiday show. The audience also gets to join in on the fun with a “12 days of Christmas” sing-a-long during the performance! Purchase tickets here.
Big Apple Circus at Lincoln Center
Ongoing until January 10th at various times. Tickets start at $25. For more information please see the website. Big Apple Circus returns to the Big Top at Lincoln Center for the company’s 38th season with the World Premiere of its all-new show, The Grand Tour! The Grand Tour transports audiences to the Roaring 1920s, the advent of the modern travel era, when the most adventuresome began to tour the world in ships, planes, trains, and automobiles. With every seat less than 50 feet from the stage, audiences will be awed by the world-class entertainers as they perform breathtaking acts from the four corners of the globe. Clowns, jugglers, acrobats, and aerialists from Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, and North and South America appear with ponies, puppies and more; the troupe sets off on their own whirlwind adventure, accompanied by the live, seven-piece Big Apple Circus Band at each of more than 100 performances.
Paper Quilting at the Lefferts Historic House in Prospect Park
Saturdays & Sundays until November 29th 1-3p. $3 suggested donation. The Prospect Park Alliance and the Brooklyn Quilters Guild present their annual show for display in the month of November. While you are here make your own paper quilt collage to take home or add it to our community patchwork.
Beauty & the Beast at PuppetWorks (Park Slope)
Saturday & Sundays ongoing until December 20th 1230p & 230p. For ages 4+. Admission for a Child is $9, an Adult $10. No credit cards accepted. Reservations are suggested: 718-965-3391 (current day or advance reservations) or e-mail us: puppetworks@twcmetrobiz.com (NO same day e-mail reservations). Madame Gabrielle de Villeneuve’s French Fantasy with a “live” Beast. Adapted for Marionettes by Nicolas Coppola.
For a full calendar of events please click here!