Spring

Apr 28 2013

32 NYC Festivals, Street Fairs and Carnivals May 2013

Things to do with kids: 32 NYC Festivals, Street Fairs and Carnivals May 2013

There are street fairs and then there are street fairs. We don't mean those random ones that sell irregular socks and fried Oreos; we're talking about true community festivals. Each one is unique and reflects the character of its neighborhood, and many feature rides, performances, activities and food. The hard part, of course, is knowing which ones are which, 'cause while we all love to stock up on cheap socks, we're not going to drag our family across town to do so.

We've gone through the city's list of festivals, street fairs and carnivals for the month of May and picked out our favorites from years past and some new events that sound promising. All of these fests are FREE or just a couple of bucks, and in most cases your dollars go to support a local charity or school, so you can feel good about spending money. In our research, we were bummed to learn that one of annual picks, the Hudson River Pageant, won't be happening this year. But there are 32 other awesome fests to choose from! You can find even more seasonal activities in our Spring Fun Guide.

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Apr 14 2013

Tribeca Family Festival Street Fair 2013 & Other Free Tribeca Film Festival Events for NYC Kids

Things to do with kids: Tribeca Family Festival Street Fair 2013 & Other Free Tribeca Film Festival Events for NYC Kids

One of our favorite annual spring events, the Tribeca Film Festival, is set to take over downtown Wednesday, April 17 to Sunday, April 28, and as always there are lots of awesome activities for families. The popular Tribeca Family Festival Street Fair takes place on Saturday, April 27. While Mommy Poppins won't have a booth like we did a few years back, many of us plan on attending with our families. Yes it's always crowded but it's also packed with surprises, great things to do and cool entertainment.

In addition to the Family Festival Street Fair, which includes Tribeca/ESPN Sports Day, there will be "drive-in" movies, a mini-film fest of kid-made shorts as well as flicks you can watch online. Here's the scoop on these great events, all of which are FREE.

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Apr 4 2013

Top 10 NYC Kids' Concerts for Spring 2013: The Deedle Deedle Dees, Shine & the Moonbeams and More

Things to do with kids: Top 10 NYC Kids' Concerts for Spring 2013: The Deedle Deedle Dees, Shine & the Moonbeams and More

Earlier this week in our April NYC Go List, we told you about the biggest family concert happening in New York City this spring: the annual Kindiefest at BAM, which sold out super quickly. But don't worry: Kindiefest isn't the only cool gig in town this season.

Spring is a particularly great time of year to catch kids' bands in NYC. Local acts are emerging from hibernation with new tunes in preparation for the summer concert circuit, including popular groups like the Deedle Deedle Dees, Elizabeth Mitchell and Brady Rymer. We've rounded up 10 awesome concerts to put in your calendar this spring, but the best part is these big names don't cost big bucks. In fact, seven of these shows are 100% FREE.

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Apr 2 2013

12 Spring Festivals, Fairs and Carnivals for NYC Families April 2013

Things to do with kids: 12 Spring Festivals, Fairs and Carnivals for NYC Families April 2013

Along with the mild weather comes a fresh crop of outdoor festivals, street fairs and carnivals, big annual favorites like two of our April Go List picks, the Tribeca Family Festival Street Fair and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden's Cherry Blossom Festival, as well as smaller community happenings.

These spring fests are a great way to entertain your family for just a few bucks—sometimes even for FREE. And the activities are really diverse: Introduce the kids to old-fashioned games, celebrate planet Earth, chow down on homemade treats or watch live performances by kiddie bands, puppet troupes and more. Plus, these events aren't just fun, they foster community by bringing folks together to support a school, playground, cultural institution or common cause.

Festival season doesn't kick off until this weekend but you can start planning right now. Here are 12 awesome events to put in your April calendar.

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Mar 26 2013

Fairy Tales are Flipped, Twisted and Blown Up in The Stinky Cheese Man

Fairy Tales are Flipped, Twisted and Blown Up in The Stinky Cheese Man

Does anyone do fairy tales straight anymore? I don't think so—and that's a good thing. Even Disney threw out the old helpless princess saved by the handsome price routine over a decade ago. Still, no one has quite the same twisted take on childhood classics as author Jon Scieszka. He doesn't just reinvent fairy tales, he blows them to bits. In his world, the Ugly Duckling really is an ugly duckling, and she's totally okay with that, thank you very much.

Now Atlantic for Kids—the family wing of the decidedly grown-up Atlantic Theater Company—is bringing the ridiculous stories in Scieszka's 1992 book The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales to life and they are, as advertised, gleefully stupid. But they're also funny, silly, kooky and surprising and, best of all, the moral of the story is that there doesn't need to be one.

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