The Kings County Memorial Day Parade in Brooklyn has been happening for many years and is one of the oldest continuous Memorial Day parades in the country. The 2017 parade is the 150th anniversary of the event.
The 2017 parade is Monday, May 29th at 11:00 a.m..
The parade route is along Third Avenue from 78th Street to Marine Avenue, then up Fourth Avenue and over to John Paul Jones Park on 101st Street for the memorial service following the parade.
Taste of Times Square takes place in June of each year. The event features food from over 40 Times Square restaurants, plus live music.
The 2017 Taste of Times Square date is Monday, June 5th and the hours are 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Booths with food sampling are located on West 46th Street from Broadway to 10th Avenue.
Festival admission is free. Tasting tickets are $1 each and the price for each dish ranges from two to six tickets. You can purchase tickets at the event or in advance online.
The American Crafts Festival is held annually at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts during the springtime.
The 2017 festival is June 3 & 4 and June 10 &11. The dates vary from year to year. Please visit the American Crafts Festival website to confirm the dates and times.
The festival is held outdoors, on the Lincoln Center Plaza.
The event has been going on for over 30 years and includes hundreds of juried craft displays from all over the United States.
In addition to the craft displays, entertainment and craft demonstrations are provided throughout the day.
Admission is free.
Location
Lincoln Center is located in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of Manhattan, on Columbus Avenue, between West 62nd and West 65th Streets.
The annual NYC Dance Parade & Festival takes place in May of each year.
The 2017 event will be held on Saturday, May 20th.
The parade, which features dance groups, floats, live bands, and DJs, starts a 1:00 p.m. and proceeds down Broadway from 21st Street to Tompkins Square Park at Avenue A and Saint Marks Place. The parade line-up is ordered chronologically, from ancient to contemporary dance.
Following the parade, there’s a festival in Tompkins Square Park, with multiple stages of entertainment and free dance lessons.
The festival’s mission is to inspire dance through the celebration of diversity.
Twice a year the setting sun aligns perfectly with the east/west streets of Manhattan, creating a glow of sunlight along the city’s canyons of skyscrapers.
The event, known as Manhattanhenge (after Stonehenge, a prehistoric monument that aligns with the sun on the Summer Solstice), happens each year around May 30th and July 11th. The dates vary slightly each year, depending on the date of the Summer Solstice.
This annual festival celebrates Irish dance and culture with a day of dance and music performances; participatory dance workshops,jams, and group dances; Irish language lessons, and children’s crafts.
The event takes place at Riverside Park South, Pier 1.
The 2017 event is Sunday, May 7, from 1:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m..
The Irish Arts Center NYC Dance Festival is held at Riverside Park South Pier 1, which is located on the Upper West Side at W 70th Street and the Hudson River.
Celebrate the Summer Solstice with this free large-scale participatory yoga event held at Times Square.
Thousands of Yogis from around the world attend this annual event and celebrate the Summer Solstice with a day full of free yoga classes on the Broadway Plazas at Times Square. The event, subtitled, Mind Over Madness Yoga, presents the challenge of focusing amidst the distractions of the surrounding city.
The event is held annually on the Summer Solstice (June 21 in 2017).
Pre-registration through the event website is recommended, although walk-ups are accepted as space allows. The classes are free.
Jane’s Walk is a weekend of free, citizen-lead, walks organized in honor of pioneering urbanist and activist Jane Jacobs,
The 2017 Jane’s Walk event will be held May 5 – 7.
Walks cover a wide variety of themes and are held throughout the city. Discussion and participation is encouraged on Jane’s Walks. Most walks are repeated several times over the weekend.
There are tours the focus on architecture, art, nature, history, heritage, and more.
Jacobs’ book The Death and Life of Great American Cities shook up the world of urban planning by focusing on the benefits of higher density, mixed-use, pedestrian-friendly development that creates lively, diverse neighborhoods. See Jane Jacobs’ Ten Big Ideas.
The New York City walks are organized by the Municipal Art Socity of New York, and organization that promotes intelligent urban planning, design, and preservation through education, dialogue, and advocacy.
Waves of Tradition is a curated week-long (May 1 – 5, 2017) celebration of New York City and the waves of immigrant cultures that make up its rich history.
Each day focuses on a different part of the world: West Africa, Japan, Ireland, the Middle East, and Latin America. Artists will tell their stories through music and dance each afternoon and evening, with a culminating Friday night concert.
The events take place a Brookfield Place (230 Vesey Street, near the World Trade Center), and are free to attend. Performances are at 12:30 p.m. & 5:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 12:30 p.m. & 7:30 p.m. on Friday.
Each June, the annual Night at the Museums event provides free admission to museums and cultural sites in Lower Manhattan.
All the venues are located in Lower Manhattan and within walking distance of each other.
The 2017 event is June 20th from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Participating venues for 2017 are the African Burial Grounds National Monument, China Institute, Federal Hall National Memorial, Fraunces Tavern Museum, Museum of American Finance, Museum of Jewish Heritage, National Archives of New York City, National Museum of the American Indian, National September 11 Memorial Museum, 9/11 Tribute Center, NYC Municipal Archives, Poets House, The Skyscraper Museum, and South Street Seaport Museum.
Lower Manhattan Tours also offers free tours during the event. Advance reservations are required for the tours.
Several of the participating venues have free admission all the time (African Burial Grounds National Monument, Federal Hall National Monument, NYC Municipal Archives, and National Museum of the American Indian), so if I want to make a day of visiting these Lower Manhattan sites, you could visit those first and leave the ones that normally charge admission for the 4:00 – 8:00 free admission time.
