Free Fun Friday: Dance Parade, Kites, Horses, Mamapalooza

5/15/08 - By Anna Fader

This weekend is absolutely jam-packed with festivals and activities, so I will just write about the top ten can't miss activities in brief. Also be sure to check out our Weekend of trickster and Folklore Events post for this weekend. This is yet another weekend I wish I could be in ten places at once (one of them obviously being in bed...oh, man, wouldn't it be great if you could spend the day in bed while your other self went out with the kids and did all kinds of fun stuff...sorry, little mommy fantasy moment there.) 

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Dance Parade and DanceFest
Saturday, May 17th, 1PM
Starting at Broadway and 29th Street and Ending in Thompkins Square Park
FREE

This is the second annual NYC Dance Parade. With over 3000 dancers performing down Broadway, culminating in a four hour free festival with staged performances, social dancing, dance lessons and a DJ party in Thompkins Square Park at 4PM. Look at the parade route to see where you can catch it.

Taste of Tribeca
Saturday, May 17th, 11:30AM-3PM
Greenwich Street and Duane
$40 per ticket of 6 tastes. Live entertainment and KidZone activities free

Help raise money for downtown public schools while treating yourself to delicious bites from some of the area's top restaurants like Bouley, Chanterelle and Tribeca Grill. Kids can play, do crafts and laugh at clowns in the KidZone while you chow. Live music and performances will take center stage. Local wine merchants will host in-store free wine tastings and Tribeca historian Oliver Allen will lead a free walking tour. Don't go home without a cool Tribeca T-Shirt for you and the kids designed by Steve Allen or local public school parent Don Zinzell. Buy your tickets in advance at tasteoftribeca.org and get there early.

Kite Festival
Saturday, May 17, 12-5PM
McCarren Park, Williamsburg
FREE

While It's My Park Day! is being celebrated in parks throughout the city with people cleaning up and planting in their neighborhood parks (check the NY Parks Dept. for your local It's My Park Day!), Williamsburg says, go fly a kite. And they mean it. The 4th Annual Mccarren park Fite festival will include tons of live entertainment, including marching bands and Audra Rox, plus crafts, games food and a kite hospital.

The Horse at AMNH
Saturday, May 17, 2008,
12 - 4:00 p.m.
American Museum of Natural History, West 81st Street driveway
FREE

The American Museum of Natural History is opening it's new exhibit, The Horse, with a free outdoor family festival. See Thumbelina, the world's smallest horse, horse demonstrations, storytelling and more.

Mamapalooza
Sunday, May 18th 12-5PM
Riverside Park South (Entrance at 68th St West Side)
FREE

Full Day of Kids Activities, Mom Rock Bands, Face-Painting, Food, Vendors, Shopping, Maternal Dance and Families rocking out together. Featuring Audra Rox, Swingset Mamas, Housewives On Prozac, Catholic Girls, Annie Sidley and more.

Children Festival
Sunday, May 18, 2008, 10AM - 6PM
Flushing Meadows Corona Park Queens
FREE

Enjoy live entertainment, music, games, food, and fun for the entire family at this annual favorite.

Mamalu Kids Clothing Swap
Saturday, May 17th, 11-12pm
Mamalu, 232 N 12th St Williamsburg, Brooklyn
FEE: $5 Not free, but 5 bucks for all the new-to-you clothes you can nab? Love it!

How does it work?

Go through all your kids clothes and take out all the stained onesies and the yucky stuff. Take that bag to the Salvation Army. Then go through their stuff again and take out all the cute things they no longer wear and bring them to the Clothing Exchange. We put all the clothes in big piles according to age and at 11:15, the  shopping  begins. You are welcome to bring your children, BUT remember that you will have to keep an eye on them while you are  shopping.

Young Family Open House at the JCC
Sunday, May 18th, 9-12am
JCC, 334 Amsterdam Ave at 76th
FREE

Sample mini-sessions of all the JCC family summer programs for free, plus crafts, face-painters, baloonologists, snacks tattoos and more. Be sure to check their website for the schedule and get there early if you want a spot in any of the classes.

PSP Eco Fair
Saturday, May 17th, 11-5pm
JJ Byrne Park, 5th Ave between 3rd and 4th Streets, Brooklyn
FREE

Learn about recycling, composting, birds, and gardening plus kid activities like recycled monster making, face painting and crafts. Plus music, a clothing swap and more.

Catch and Release Fishing
Saturday, May 17, 10am-2pm
Wagner Park Battery Park City
FREE

Who needs a country house. Experienced anglers help adults and children fish in the Hudson. Live music and crafts, plus bring your bikes and learn to fix your own bike too.