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30 Best Things To Do in NYC July 2023 with Kids: Macy's 4th of July Fireworks and More

Celebrate all things French when Bastille Day takes over Madison Avenue with a blocks-long street fest. Photo by Michael George
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6/30/23 - By Drew Kristofik

Cue the fireworks, because July is here, bringing with it tons of 4th of July fun, plus plenty more family-friendly things to do in New York City.

Of course, July brings Independence Day, with fireworks all over town—including the big Macy's 4th of July display—but we have found tons more amazing things to do with kids in New York City all month long.

The Big Umbrella fest welcomes kids with (and without) sensory differences at Lincoln Center. Goats get their due with a festival in Riverside Park, and City of Water Day, Sprinker Day at Asphalt Green, and the Randall's Island's Waterfront Fest are all getting our calendar delightfully damp.

For drier celebrations, check out the Math Festival downtown or Governors Island's Poetry Fest. Summer Streets start rolling out in July, too.

Keep an eye on our lists of FREE outdoor movies and summer concerts, as they're updated frequently, and find more top July fun on our list of 100 FREE things to do this summer in NYC and our Ultimate NYC Kids Summer Vacation Guide.

Get our picks for every weekend in your inbox—sign up for our newsletters.

As always, if an event piques your interest, be sure to click through to our listing for all the details, including addresses, times, and recommended ages. And keep in mind: In NYC, really cool things to do with kids often get booked quickly, so buy your tickets ASAP.

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The Feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel and San Paolino di Nola is one of the oldest Italian American feasts in America. Photo courtesy of the fest
The Feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel and San Paolino di Nola is one of the oldest Italian American feasts in America. Photo courtesy of the fest

Top Things To Do in NYC this July with Kids

Big Umbrella Festival

Upper West Side–FREE
Saturday, July 1
The popular Big Umbrella Festival blooms as a free one-day campus takeover at Lincoln Center full of relaxed spaces with multi-sensory experiences, performances, installations, and workshops specifically welcoming neurodivergent audiences and their families. READ MORE

Richmond Town Independence Day Celebration

Richmond, Staten Island
Saturday, July 1-Sunday, July 2
Celebrate our nation’s independence with old-fashioned family fun! Visit Historic Richmond Town for home-churned ice cream, a patriotic pinwheel parade, and an inspirational reading of the Declaration of Independence. READ MORE

Macy's 4th of July Fireworks

East River–FREE
Tuesday, July 4
The 47th annual Macy's 4th of July fireworks sparkle over the East River, in a dazzling display featuring more than 60,000 shells lighting up the night sky and launched from five barges set out between East 23rd and East 42nd Streets. READ MORE

4th of July Fireworks on Coney Island

Coney Island, Brooklyn–FREE
Tuesday, July 4
Coney Island's iconic 4th of July fireworks return for 2023! Bring the family, a blanket, and a picnic to watch the fireworks dazzle over the Atlantic. READ MORE

Nathan’s Famous 4th of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest 2023

Coney Island–FREE
Tuesday, July 4
Yes, once again, you can watch people stuff hot dogs into their mouths with mind-boggling velocity. Hearty eaters compete to see who can chow down on the most franks at this classic NYC summer event. READ MORE

4th of July Fireworks

Greenpoint, Brooklyn
Tuesday, July 4
Snag a perfect view of the Macy's fireworks at Skyline Cinema. It's a seats-only evening (no cars), so there's nothing to block the view. Bring your own chair or blanket; snacks and beverages are available for purchase. A special kids' section is also available, for an additional $10/person. READ MORE

Empire Outlets' 4th of July Fireworks

St. George, Staten Island–FREE
Tuesday, July 4
Empire Outlets hosts a celebratory block party with face painting, balloon animals, popcorn, cotton candy, live music, and more. A fireworks show caps off the fun around 9pm. READ MORE

Annual Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel

Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Wednesday, July 5-Sunday, July 16
The Feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel and San Paolino di Nola is one of the oldest Italian American feasts in America. Celebrate with the congregation of OLMC church during this blocks-long carnival. The celebration dates back to 1903, when the Nolani immigrants first held their transplanted feast, maintaining many of the traditions from the Mezzogiorno. READ MORE

Goatham Festival – SOLD OUT

Upper West Side–FREE
Friday, July 7
The Riverside goats are making a pitstop on the way to their summer home in the woods between 119th and 122nd Streets. Cowgirl, Charlie, Chico, and Mallomar are guests of honor at a "ribbon chewing" ceremony. READ MORE

Jurassic Mini Golf Opening Weekend

Crown Heights, Brooklyn
Saturday, July 8-Sunday, July 9
Practice your putt surrounded by the calls and stirrings of larger-than-life animatronic (but not too scary!) dinosaurs. The course is perched on the Brooklyn Children's Museum rooftop under a canopy that provides shade. READ MORE

Malvolio

Harlem–FREE
Select dates from Saturday, July 8-Saturday, July 29
Classical Theatre of Harlem imagines what happened next for Malvolio, the pompous steward from Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. This sequel, by Betty Shamieh, revisits the infamous boor—now a victorious general—20 years after his comeuppance in Shakespeare’s comedy. READ MORE

SAB Family-friendly Ballet Workshop

Upper West Side–FREE
Friday, July 14
School of American Ballet faculty and advanced students lead an hour-long ballet workshop the entire family will enjoy! Learn some of the ballet basics that SAB students do each day as they train to become professional dancers. All ages welcome; sneakers recommended. READ MORE

Seaport Kids Summer Bash

South Street Seaport–FREE
Saturday, July 15
Come to The Seaport for an afternoon of unleashed creativity and interactive fun. Once again, The Seaport is partnering with Mommy Poppins to bring kids a Summer Bash like no other. Join in for puppet performances from Puppetsburg, a gymnastics obstacle course, pop-up play with recycled materials, STEM projects with Brooklyn Robot Foundry, plus crafts, a face painter, face gems and temporary tattoos, block building, and more.  READ MORE

Sprinkler Day

Upper East Side–FREE
Saturday, July 15
Don’t let the soaring summer temperatures discourage you from enjoying the outdoors. Cool off by splashing around in Asphalt Green’s high-powered sprinklers and slip and slides. READ MORE

City of Water Day

Seaport and Citywide–FREE
Saturday, July 15
City of Water Day celebrates NYC's long history as a port and water-bound metropolis. Festivities include boat tours on all kinds of vessels, from tall ships to tugboats; free rowing, kayaking, paddleboarding, and more. READ MORE

NYC Math Festival

Financial District–FREE
Saturday, July 15
MoMath presents the seventh annual NYC Math Festival, providing a full day of math fun in the sun for all ages. Enjoy hands-on math exhibits, entertaining mathematical games, and intriguing puzzles and brainteasers.  READ MORE

Hands-on History: Pet Alligators!

Jamaica, Queens–FREE
Saturday, July 15
Rufus King was good friends with the sixth president of the United States John Quincy Adams, an antislavery advocate. Adams even visited King and stayed in the guest room. Celebrate Adams' birthday (July 11, 1767) by crafting your own pet alligator! READ MORE

Roxy's Rock 'n' Read

Midtown West–FREE
Saturday, July 15
Enjoy a full slate of family-friendly programming during Roxy's Rock 'n' Read on Rockefeller Center's famed center plaza. A wide range of activities are offered. READ MORE

Bastille Day on Madison Avenue

Upper East Side–FREE
Sunday, July 16
Celebrate France’s national holiday at this annual street fair, this year on Madison Avenue! Featuring French cuisine, music, dance, and myriad attractions for the whole family, FIAF's fête populaire invites New Yorkers to revel in the flavors, sounds, and joie de vivre of France. READ MORE

Cat Kid Comic Club: The Musical

Greenwich Village
Select dates from Friday, July 21-Sunday, August 27
TheaterWorks USA presents a madcap musical based on Dav Pilkey’s irreverently hilarious book series. READ MORE

Waterfront Festival

Randall's Island–FREE
Saturday, July 22
Celebrate the vibrant waterfront on the shores of Randall’s Island with live performances, Science in the City, face painting by Sheila Jordan Art & Entertainment, and human-sized bubbles kids can jump through courtesy of Bubbledad.  READ MORE

BAAND Together Dance Fest

Midtown West/Upper West Side–FREE
Tuesday, July 25-Saturday, July 29
See five of NYC’s most iconic dance companies—Ballet Hispánico, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, and Dance Theatre of Harlem—together on one stage as the BAAND Together Dance Festival returns to Damrosch Park for five midsummer nights. READ MORE

44th Annual Thunderbird American Indian Mid-Summer Powwow

Floral Park, Queens
Friday, July 28-Sunday, July 30
New York City's oldest and largest powwow features three days of intertribal Native American dance competitions, and the public is invited. More than 40 Indian nations are represented at this spectacular event, held in the apple orchard on the farm grounds.  READ MORE

STooPS 10th Annual Art Crawl

Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn–FREE
Saturday, July 29
STooPS Bed-Stuy, an annual celebration of creativity in Brooklyn, returns to Bedford-Stuyvesant for an afternoon of dance, music, spoken word, theater, visual art, conversations, and workshops as artists transform the stoops, storefronts, yards, and sidewalks of Hancock Street into dynamic stages for interactive art performances. READ MORE

New York City Poetry Festival

Governors Island–FREE
Saturday, July 29-Sunday, July 30
The New York City Poetry Festival unites the vast and diverse New York City poetry community on Governors Island. The festival invites poetry organizations and collectives of all shapes and sizes to bring their unique formats, aesthetics, and personalities to the festival grounds. READ MORE

Sesame Street: The Musical

Midtown West
Opens Saturday, July 29
Sesame Street’s very own Elmo, Cookie Monster, Abby Cadabby, Grover, Rosita, Bert, Ernie, Oscar the Grouch, The Count, Gabrielle, and a host of Honkers, Martians, and other favorites appear onstage in their very own musical. READ MORE

Summer Streets

Staten Island and Queens–FREE
Saturday, July 29
New York's favorite car-free street festival returns this July and August, as Summer Streets expands to open miles of NYC streets for people to play, run, walk, and bike across multiple weeks and in all five boroughs. READ MORE

Ballet Folklórico Mexicano de Nueva York Presents Guelaguetza 2023

Long Island City, Queens–FREE
Sunday, July 30
Immerse yourself in one of the most vivid expressions of Mexican culture as the 11th annual Guelaguetza Festival New York City returns to Socrates Sculpture Park. READ MORE

The School for Scandal

Upper West Side–FREE
Select dates through Saturday, July 23
The Hudson Classical Theater Company presents Richard Brinsley Sheridan's comedy of manners, first performed in 1777! READ MORE

Interactive Puppetsburg Show at Brooklearn Carroll Gardens

Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn
Thursdays, through August 24
Puppetsburg shows feature a different story each week that involves dancing, instruments, dress-up "photo-ops," one-on-one time with handmade puppets, and bubble time. READ MORE

Places featured in this article:

Coney Island Beach & Boardwalk
Brooklyn Children's Museum
Pier 17, South Street Seaport
Soldiers and Sailors Monument, Riverside Park