Festivals

This Memorial Day weekend Governors Island reopens for the season. It's truly my favorite summer destination in NYC. Whenever I go I think to myself, if they built condos here, I would totally want to buy one. (Thankfully, the island is considered a national monument, so not even Trump can get his hands on this real estate!)

This 172-acre oasis was once home to the U.S. Army and Coast Guard, and is full of quaint 19th-century houses, grassy hills and traffic-free bike paths. It's just a seven-minute ferry ride from lower Manhattan, but if you stand in a spot where the city skyline is out of view, you feel as if you've been transported to 1800s New England. In addition to being a fantastic place for families to relax and explore, the isle hosts lots of cool festivals and activities throughout the season, most of which are FREE. The ferry ride there is FREE, too.

For 2013, all of the big kid attractions will be back, including the opening day family festival, the Figment arts fest when the mini-golf course and Interactive Sculpture Garden debut, and the Children's Museum of the Arts Free Island Outpost. But there are also some really exciting new additions, notably a French festival of vintage carnival rides and carousels in July! Read on for the scoop on the very best things to do on Governors Island with kids this season.

I'm one of those parents who likes to plan. You know the type: I buy a big wall calendar every December and take strange pleasure in filling it all up with birthdays, class schedules and my family's favorite annual events. There are certain New York City celebrations we love so much, my daughter and I try to go every year, like the interactive art-filled Figment on Governors Island, the massive Tribeca Family Festival Street Fair and Street Games, the Parks Department's tribute to old-school pastimes.

Since we've enjoyed such a great response to our NYC Go Lists, which highlight the absolute best things to do with kids every month, I know I'm not the only mom out there who likes to plan ahead. And with festival season kicking into high gear this month, we figured it was a great time to round up our top 25 annual festivals for families, so we could put them on your radar. Every single pick on our list is either an event my family or one of our bloggers has been to personally with kids, or an annual favorite endorsed by our friends and readers. In other words, they're really worth your time and money—in fact in most cases they don't cost a penny.

You can find additional kid-friendly celebrations in our NYC Festivals Guide, including our list of the city's best annual parades.