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Things To Do in NYC this Weekend: Free Museums, Book Fest, County Fair

The gorgeous communal evening parade Morningside Lights kicks off at 8pm and is worth keeping the kids up past their bedtime. Photo courtesy of the event
The gorgeous communal evening parade Morningside Lights kicks off at 8pm and is worth keeping the kids up past their bedtime. Photo courtesy of the event
9/18/19 - By Drew Kristofik

This Saturday, the annual Smithsonian Museum Day means FREE ticketed admission to participating museums around NYC, including the Fire Museum, the Jewish Museum and more. Be sure to download tickets in advance. Psst: The Intrepid Museum is participating, so you might be able to sign up for the Intrepid Adventures' Flying in Style workshop for FREE! Cap off the day by watching the gorgeous Morningside Lights parade on the Upper West Side.

Other beloved annual favorites coming to NYC this weekend include the Brooklyn Book Festival's Children's Day, the BAM Animation Block Party, Carnegie Hall's Fall Family Day, and the 92 Y's annual street festival, which includes performances by Broadway superstars. For science-loving kids, the City of Science celebration at the College of Staten Island promises plenty of free, hands-on projects and activities.

Looking for an old-fashioned fall festival now that the calendar says it's officially autumn? Take your pick: This weekend the Queens County Farm Museum kicks off its annual corn maze at the Queens County Fair, and rides, bounce houses, and face painting also liven up the Brownstone School Fall Fun Fair on the Upper West. Plus, there are free pony rides and a tie-dye workshop waiting for you at the 25th Annual Common Ground Fest in Morningside Park.

Check the calendar for more, and snag an inside peek at where to find pumpkin patches and hay rides right here in NYC.

OUR LATEST VIDEOS

There’s more to aircraft than wings and engines. Get up close to the aircraft at Flying in Style at the Intrepid. Photo courtesy of the Intrepid
There’s more to aircraft than wings and engines. Get up close to the aircraft at Flying in Style at the Intrepid. Photo courtesy of the Intrepid

Things To Do All Weekend

Intrepid Adventures: Flying in Style

Midtown West
Get up close to the aircraft in the Intrepid's collection to learn how symbols and paint schemes set each airplane apart. Then head back to the classroom to create a family squadron insignia. READ MORE

Corn Fest at the Queens County Farm Museum

Floral Park, Queens
The Queens County Farm Museum hosts an all-new Corn Fest to celebrate the grand opening of the 2024 Amazing Maize Maze. The event is jam-packed with a-maize-ing activities, games, and food.  READ MORE

BAM Animation Block Party

Boerum Hill, Brooklyn
BAM's annual animation festival returns for its 16th edition, featuring international films, award winners, indie shorts, and more. The highlight for families is the "Animation for Kids" program featuring a fresh collection of the year’s best family-friendly animated shorts. READ MORE

98th Annual Feast of San Gennaro in Little Italy

Little Italy — FREE
The Feast of San Gennaro honors Italian Americans in professional baseball this year with its blocks-long street festival dubbed the "Feast of all Feasts!" Enjoy food, entertainment, and vendors along Mulberry Street from Houston to Canal. Food Network star Anne Burrell serves as grand marshal. READ MORE

Latinx Fest

Upper West Side
Celebrate National Latinx Heritage month by creating a mythical Alebrije folk art puppet or a pop-up card inspired by the architecture of Old San Juan. Cook with Chef Kelsy Camilo on Saturday or explore break dancing, hip-hop and freestyle with Kid Glyde and the Dynamic Rockers on Sunday! READ MORE

Family Art Project: To Be a River

Riverdale, the Bronx
An experiential workshop with exhibiting generated@wavehill artist Bahar Behbahani allows families to create a series of water monoprints, reflect on memories and write a flow of poetries to celebrate the rivers we are. READ MORE

Festa D'Italia & Motori D’Italia at Casa Belvedere

Staten Island
Celebrate Italian culture at Staten Island's Casa Belvedere with live entertainment, homemade Italian delicacies, games, rides, crafts, all-you-can-eat contests, and a display of exotic cars and motorcycles. READ MORE
Enjoy free museum admission across the country at Smithsonian Day Live Saturday. Photo courtesy of Museum of Chinese in America
Enjoy free museum admission across the country at Smithsonian Day Live Saturday. Photo courtesy of Museum of Chinese in America

Things To Do on Saturday, September 21

Smithsonian Museum Day

Citywide — FREE
Get a FREE museum ticket at NYC institutions participating in Museum Day, an annual event hosted by Smithsonian magazine. READ MORE

Morningside Lights: Island

18th Annual Brooklyn Children’s Book Fair at the Brooklyn Museum

Downtown Brooklyn — FREE
The annual Brooklyn Children's Book Fair brings together 40 Brooklyn authors and illustrators to share their latest books. Throughout the day, children and their companions can attend readings and presentations, learn about the creative process, get books signed, and have fun drawing and coloring. READ MORE

Brownstone School Fall Fun Fair

Upper West Side
The Brownstone School (UWS)'s Annual Fall Fun Fair is a community-based event open to all families with bounce houses, rides & games, live music, food from local vendors, arts & crafts and more. READ MORE

Kite Flight for Peace

Roosevelt Island — FREE
In recognition of the United Nations General Assembly and International Peace Day, visit Roosevelt Island to design and fly kites, selecting stripes, colors, and symbols that represent personal ideas about peace and freedom. READ MORE

The Village Alliance Presents Astor Alive! Festival

East Village — FREE
Astor Place Alive is back, presenting Take Dance’s Somewhere Familiar Melodies and Megan Williams Dance Project's One Woman Show, hosted by TruDee (Deborah Lohse). READ MORE

East Flatbush's Touch A Truck Festival

East Flatbush, Brooklyn
Experience a whole lot of trucks including a garbage truck, a fire truck, an ambulance and many more. Purchase food and drink from local vendors, dance with some Zumba instructors, participate in fun games for kids of all ages, make your own stuffed bear, get your face painted, jump on a bouncy house, browse books on transportation, check out some flying drones, and enjoy the live DJ. READ MORE

Brooklyn United Day at the Plaza at 300 Ashland

Boerum Hill, Brooklyn — FREE
Brooklyn’s own marching band and dance group, Brooklyn United, hosts this day of dancing and drumming workshops and live performances. READ MORE

Future Saturdays Family Day: Sustainable September

Vinegar Hill, Brooklyn — FREE
Join this family-friendly program focused on sustainable practices featuring some of the Yard’s most “green” businesses. The afternoon will include hands-on activities, demos, and different ways for children of all ages to engage and have fun. READ MORE

Common Ground Festival in Morningside Park

Upper West Side — FREE
The Friends of Morningside Park host uptown's longest running family festival. Activities inside the park include tie dye, facepaint, temporary tattoos, magic shows, puppet shows, games, pony rides and more. READ MORE
City of Science returns to Staten Island. Photo by Greg Kessler for City of Science
City of Science returns to Staten Island. Photo by Greg Kessler for City of Science

Things To Do Sunday, September 22

City of Science

Staten Island — FREE
The World Science Festival and Con Edison host this larger-than-life, touring event where the wondrous properties of science, technology, engineering, and math collide, filled with interactive demonstrations, hands-on activities, and enormous exhibitions. READ MORE

Flatbush Frolic

Flatbush, Brooklyn
One of NYC's largest street fairs, featuring thousands of visitors and hundreds of vendors, the Flatbush Frolic dizzies up Cortelyou Road with food, games, pony rides, carnival rides, music, and more.  READ MORE

Kids Eat History: The Story of School Lunch

Lower East Side
Explore the origin of the school lunch program in New York City schools and how it transformed the lives of turn-of-the-20th century Lower East Side kids – at the very place where it all began, the Henry Street Settlement. READ MORE

92Y Street Festival 2019

Upper East Side — FREE
92Y’s annual street fest brings its programs out onto Lexington Avenue from 79th – 94th with fun for all ages. READ MORE

Fall Family Day: String Fling

Midtown West — FREE
Joyful noise and clamor reveal the versatility of percussion instruments through live performances and music-making activities. Build your own instruments, sing and dance with professional musicians, and celebrate fall as a family throughout the Resnick Education Wing. READ MORE

Picture This! Sunday: The Funkey Monkeys

Upper East Side
Get out your balloon tails and dancing shoes for the hilarious antics and soulful sounds of the beloved FunkeyMonkeys, who perform songs from the albums Mustache, Sing Dance and Underpants. READ MORE

International Coastal Cleanup day

Prospect Park, Brooklyn — FREE
Join this year's effort by helping to clean the Prospect Park lakeshore. All litter that is removed will be recorded accurately and included in the international totals. Held every September, International Coastal Cleanup engages the community to clean up beaches and waterways while identifying and documenting the types of debris they find.  READ MORE

Brooklyn Book Festival: Festival Day and Literary Marketplace

Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn — FREE
In 2020, The Brooklyn Book Festival goes virtual. The Brooklyn Book Festival is one of America’s premier book festivals and the largest free literary event in New York City. READ MORE

Party on Park

East Harlem — FREE
Get out your bike, scooter and/or walking shoes -- because Park Avenue from 125th Street to 118th Street is closed to cars, and open to people! READ MORE

Places featured in this article:

Various Museums in New York City
Miller Theater at Columbia University