This Week: Labor Day Weekend, 5 Great Plays, & Summer's Last Hurrah

8/28/14 - By Roberta B

Another Labor Day, another chance to honor hard work by taking a few days off—like our NYC editor, Raven, who is away in Martha's Vineyard celebrating the end of summer. Even without her here, Mommy Poppins can lead the charge away from labor this holiday weekend, and toward all that is fun, festive and/or FREE this week, in easy reach of the city. Feel free to bury your heads in the sand for one more weekend before facing the back-to-school music.

Care to escape the city for, say, Elizabethan England? It's never too late (or at least not until late September); the New York Renaissance Faire is still going strong in Tuxedo Park, including the holiday Monday. Or spend a few corny hours in Sleepy Hollow for Philipsburg Manor's CORNucopia celebration in Westchester.

If you're headed for the Hamptons this weekend, there's a Pow Wow worth stopping in on, and our New Jersey team has several suggestions for day trips in the Garden State (or you plan-ahead types can take a look at upcoming September festivals in NJ). Connecticut has fairs and festivals popping up all over this holiday weekend, including a life-affirming Labor Day parade in Newtown.

And wherever you spend this holiday weekend, make sure you take a minute to enter our Cinderella ticket giveaway. One lucky family will win four tickets to see the musical on Broadway!

Here's what else we covered on the NYC site this week:

OUR LATEST VIDEOS

Our September NYC Go List is out, with all of the best, must-mark-your-calendar events for the coming month.

Our Classes Guide is being updated all the time, with all the suggestions you need to kick off after-school plans for the coming school year.

Fancy a little theater before the summer's over? Raven the Theater Maven shared her take on the five best Off-Broadway shows to take your kids to this season.

Our Long Island events editor gave us some tips on how to enjoy a day trip to Shelter Island. But if that's not far enough for you, you could check out these 25 things to do in Portsmouth, NH. On the way home, you could try a spontaneous stop in Providence, Boston, Cape Cod or even hop a boat to Nantucket. It's a holiday right? And summer's not over 'til the school bell rings.

Of course we have plenty of best bets for Labor Day weekend right here in NYC, too, including the Richmond County Fair or fireworks on Staten Island, a Unicycle Festival on Governors Island and a Race around the Farmyard in Prospect Park. Because, gosh darnit, we're not quite done yet with our Summer of Play!