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The family-friendly Figment Festival on Staten Island helps everyone get creative. Photo by Michael Hnatov
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5/31/24 - By Drew Kristofik

Get ready for summer! June in NYC brings festivals for Juneteenth, Father's Day, Pride, and maybe even some early fireworks.

June is jam-packed with amazing family fun, including the month-long salute to Queens, Queens Rising, weekend fetes like the Red Hook Fest and Figment Fest, the Philharmonic Concerts in the Parks (with fireworks!), and Make Music New York, which marks the summer solstice. All that, plus beloved annual favorites like Museum Mile, Egg Rolls, Egg Creams, and Empanadas, the Mermaid Parade, and PrideFest!

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 and times. And keep in mind: In NYC, really cool things to do with kids often get booked up quickly so buy your tickets ASAP.

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Best Things To Do in NYC this June with Kids

Queens Rising: A Celebration of Arts & Culture

Multiple Queens Locations – FREE
Opens Saturday, June 1, 2024
Queens Rising NYC is an independent, month-long initiative celebrating the borough’s diverse arts, culinary, and creative communities, bringing together more than 100 programming partners to host, promote, and highlight a diverse roster of events and activities. READ MORE

Red Hook Fest 2024 in Valentino Park

Red Hook, Brooklyn
Through Sunday, June 2, 2024
Red Hook Fest 2024 kicks off with a dance party and community barbecue at PS 15. With activities, free food, and great music, the opening night event is a fun neighborhood gathering for the whole family. The festivities continue on Saturday, June 1, with main stage events at Valentino Park and Pier.  READ MORE

Classical Kids Fair at the Brooklyn Children's Museum

Crown Heights, Brooklyn
Sunday, June 2, 2024
The Classical Kids Fair invites families to enjoy live performances, an instrument petting zoo, arts and crafts, radio broadcasting workshops, and more. Listen and play music along with WQXR, the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music, and dancers from the Met Opera ballet. READ MORE

Drums Along the Hudson: A Native American Festival in Inwood Hill Park

Inwood – FREE
Sunday, June 2, 2024
The annual Drums Along the Hudson: A Native American Festival and Multicultural Celebration marks its 21st anniversary as Manhattan’s only open-air pow wow. The all-day event features Native American crafts, storytelling, and traditional food and dance. READ MORE

Astoria Park Carnival

Astoria, Queens
Wednesday, June 5-Sunday, June 9, 2024
Dreamland Amusements packs Astoria Park with a Ferris wheel, roller coasters, Himalaya gravity defiers, swings, bumper cars, carnival games, and more kid-friendly amusements. READ MORE

Circus Amok at Socrates Sculpture Park

Long Island City, Queens – FREE
Friday, June 7, 2024
The circus returns to Socrates! This uniquely creative experience is filled with performance, music, dance, and deft-defying skills of all kinds. READ MORE

Figment Festival at Snug Harbor

Snug Harbor, Staten Island – FREE
Saturday, June 8, 2024
Attracting tens of thousands of visitors for the past 13 years, this family-friendly festival is an explosion of creative energy and imagination, perfect for adults and kids alike. READ MORE

Brooklyn Pride’s 28th Annual Celebration in J.J. Byrne Park

Park Slope, Brooklyn – FREE
Saturday, June 8, 2024
Brooklyn Pride hosts its annual multicultural festival featuring a​ cross-section of the borough’s business, community, and citywide organizations. Hit the family fun zone in J.J. Byrne Park for family-friendly activities, music, face painting, arts and crafts, story times, and more. READ MORE

BRIC: Celebrate Brooklyn in Prospect Park

Prospect Park, Brooklyn – FREE
Opens with Family Day on Saturday, June 8, 2024
BRIC: Celebrate Brooklyn is a free summer-long outdoor concert and performance series that has been presenting talent from around the world and around the block for more than 40 years. Bring a blanket and a picnic and enjoy! READ MORE

SOLD OUT Jazz Age Lawn Party on Governors Island

Governors Island
Saturday, June 8-Sunday, June 9, 2024
Don your best period garb and hop the ferry to Governors Island for its annual Jazz Age Lawn Party. The festival is the world’s original and largest prohibition-era-inspired gathering. READ MORE

The Pied Piper of Hamelin at Theatre 154

Greenwich Village
Weekends from Sunday, June 9-Sunday, June 23, 2024
What happens when the adults of the town ignore the wisdom of children? This new and exciting version by Amina Henry tells the age-old story with a twist, as the worlds of children and adults just can't seem to come together. Filled with song, dance, and rats (rat puppets and costumes, that is!). READ MORE

New York Philharmonic Concerts in the Park: Central Park

Juneteenth Celebration in Rockefeller Park

Battery Park City – FREE
Saturday, June 15, 2024
Battery Park City’s eighth annual Emancipation Day celebration offers fun, history, art, and a performance by Juneteenth LP, whose mission is to share the music of the African Diaspora through the lens of classically trained Black musicians. The Federation of Black Cowboys shares history and horseback rides for ages 3 and up, too. READ MORE

Pollinator Palooza at Randall's Island

Randall's Island – FREE
Saturday, June 15, 2024
Celebrate the pollinators that make Randall’s Island Park beautiful, from bees to butterflies. READ MORE

Schomburg Center Literary Festival in Harlem

Harlem – FREE
Saturday, June 15, 2024
The Schomburg Center Literary Festival: Reading the African Diaspora celebrates authors of African descent and champions literacy and books across genres to amplify Black history and culture. Readings, panel discussions, and workshops at Harlem's lit fest range from prose to poetry, comic books to young adult novels, fiction and nonfiction.   READ MORE

The 21st Annual Hunts Point Fish Parade and Summer Festival

Hunts Point, the Bronx – FREE
Saturday, June 15, 2024
The annual Hunt’s Point Fish Parade celebrates the neighborhood's heritage. Activities include a children’s art corner, boat rides, bird watching, a day-long basketball tournament, face painting, print-making, tons of great food and activities, live music, and performances. READ MORE

Four Go Wild in Wellies at the New Victory Theater

Midtown West
Select dates through Sunday, June 16, 2024
It’s time to explore the great outdoors! What do we need? Tiny tents, bobble hats, scarves and, of course, Wellies (British for rain boots)! With all of the foliage and fun of any good forest frolic, Four Go Wild in Wellies features an inclusive company of dancers who remind us that nothing is more natural than newfound friendship. READ MORE

Egg Rolls, Egg Creams, and Empanadas Festival

Lower East Side – FREE
Sunday, June 16, 2024
The Museum at Eldridge Street presents the annual Egg Rolls, Egg Creams, and Empanadas Festival, a joyous celebration of the diverse ethnic communities of the museum's Lower East Side neighborhood. READ MORE

The Comedy of Errors at St. John the Divine

Upper West Side – FREE
Sundays, June 16 and Sunday, June 30, 2024
The Public Theater’s Mobile Unit pops up on the cathedral green in a new musical adaptation that brings an energetic vibe to this age-old tale of two sets of twins separated by stormy seas as they overcome a baffling case of mistaken identity—and the mayhem and hilarious confusion that follows. READ MORE

Museum Mile Festival

Upper East Side – FREE
Tuesday, June 18, 2024
NYC's biggest block party returns, bringing art outside (and in) on Fifth Avenue between 82nd Street and 105th Street. A collection of New York City’s finest cultural institutions are open free to the public throughout the evening, with outdoor events along the way. READ MORE

The Metropolitan Opera Summer Recital Series in Brooklyn Bridge Park

Dumbo, Brooklyn – FREE
Thursday, June 20, 2024
The Met’s free concert series in New York City parks returns to Brooklyn Bridge Park with an evening of favorite arias and duets, featuring three of today’s most exciting young stars—soprano Leah Hawkins, tenor Mario Chang, and bass-baritone Michael Sumuel. READ MORE

Citi Field Spring Carnival

Corona, Queens
Thursday, June 20-Sunday, June 23, 2024
Dreamland Amusements sprinkles Citi Field with rides (a Ferris wheel, roller coasters, Himalaya gravity defiers, swings, bob cars) and carnival games. READ MORE

Make Music New York

Citywide – FREE
Friday, June 21, 2024
Make Music New York puts the beat under city feet as musicians of diverse backgrounds, ethnicities, ages, sexual orientations, physical capabilities, and skill levels represent New York City’s remarkable creativity and diversity. READ MORE

Anti-Prom at the New York Public Library

Midtown West – FREE
Friday, June 21, 2024
The New York Public Library welcomes the return of Anti-Prom, its popular annual event for teens that celebrates personal expression. Created in 2004, the program offers an inclusive, safe space for attendees to embrace their sexuality, gender identity, culture, and style of dress. READ MORE

Gregorian Festival at St. Gregory the Great

Bellerose, Queens
Friday, June 21-Saturday, June 29, 2024
St. Gregory the Great's Gregorian Festival features eight nights of live entertainment, rides, fair food, games, and more. READ MORE

The Mermaid Parade on Coney Island

Coney Island, Brooklyn – FREE
Saturday, June 22, 2024
Welcome summer with the return of the Mermaid Parade, an eclectic (and historically jam-packed) celebration, featuring revelers decked out in their most outrageous sea-themed costumes.  READ MORE

Create-a-thon with Nona Hendryx at Lincoln Center

Upper West Side – FREE
Saturday, June 22, 2024
Learn how to make Afro-futurist sound and light-activating wearables and contribute to an exciting new musical and visual event at 4pm in Bina48’s Garden at the David Rubenstein Atrium. READ MORE

Pride Family Picnic at St. John the Divine

Upper West Side – FREE
Sunday, June 23, 2024
The Queer Big Apple Corps Marching Band returns to the cathedral for another spectacular performance and all are welcome to picnic in the Cathedral Gardens and enjoy an afternoon of community and musical joy. READ MORE

Paley Family Day: Despicable Me at the Paley Museum

Midtown West
Saturday, June 29
Calling all Minion maniacs! Despicable Me Family Day at The Paley Museum sets the stage for the new movie, Despicable Me 4! READ MORE

PrideFest Festival

Greenwich Village – FREE
Sunday, June 30, 2024
The annual PrideFest street fair features live music, artists, craft vendors, food trucks, performers, and more. Family Fest activities take over the streets around Astor Place. READ MORE

Places featured in this article:

Various locations in Queens
Randall's Island Park
Schomburg Center For Research In Black Culture
Brooklyn Bridge Park - Pier 1
Stephen A. Schwarzman Bldg, 42nd St & Fifth Ave., NY, NY 10018 212-621-0208
Cathedral of St John the Divine