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Things To Do in NYC This Weekend: Book Fests, Pre-Thanksgiving Fun, Holiday Trains & Lights

Head to Liberty Park at the World Trade Center, which has been transformed into a lantern display featuring the 12 zodiac animals from the Lunar Calendar. Photo by Janet Bloom
Head to Liberty Park at the World Trade Center, which has been transformed into a lantern display featuring the 12 zodiac animals from the Lunar Calendar. Photo by Janet Bloom
11/20/19 - By Drew Kristofik

The holiday season roars into town like a freight train—or like one of the holiday train shows popping up all over, including the Grand Central Station and the New York Botanical Garden displays. Kids can even test their inner engineers at the Transportation Museum's Train Operators workshop.

As we head toward Thanksgiving, honor original Americans at the Children's Museum of Manhattan, where you can see the Thunderbird American Indian Dancers on Sunday. Kids can create "Skyscraper Hand Turkeys" at the Skyscraper Museum on Saturday, or listen to kids tell funny tales of Thanksgiving past and future on Sunday.

Beloved kid lit authors appear at the Brooklyn Children's Book Fair on Saturday, and kids can snag half-off bestsellers at the Goddard Riverside book fair all weekend. In the Bronx, kids can craft up a storm at the Riverdale Temple Gift Fair.

All that, plus the town is lighting up like a holiday pinball machine. Dazzle is set to 11 at the NYC Winter Lantern Fest, The Bronx Zoo's Holiday Lights are all a-twinkle, and the Seaport's Winterland Skating rink glitters on the East River. Don't forget to consult our November GoList and our Event Calendar for a comprehensive array of events and activities.

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The New York Botanical Garden Train Show celebrates all things NYC. Photo courtesy of NYBG
The New York Botanical Garden Train Show celebrates all things NYC. Photo courtesy of NYBG

Things To Do All Weekend

Native Americans Arts Festival

Upper East Side
Explore stories and games from a variety of Native American Cultures, and catch a performance by the Thunderbird American Indian Dancers on Saturday. READ MORE

New York Botanical Garden Holiday Train Show

Bronx Park, the Bronx
The New York Botanical Garden’s Holiday Train Show returns for its 32nd year! Model trains zip through a miniature wonderland of nearly 200 New York landmark replicas, each re-created from natural materials such as leaves, seeds, twigs, bark, acorns, and cinnamon sticks. READ MORE

Holiday Train Show at Grand Central

Midtown East — FREE
Returning for the first time since 2019, the New York Transit Museum’s Grand Central Gallery plays host to a city within a city with the display of a miniature electric railroad running over, through, and beneath some of New York’s most magnificent landmarks. READ MORE

New York Train Operators Workshop

Downtown Brooklyn
Stop by the Computer Lab to take control of a NYC subway car and operate it over virtual miles of track using some incredibly realistic software. READ MORE

NYC Winter Lantern Festival: Escape

Snug Harbor, Staten Island
Eight acres of Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden are lit up by LED installations that stretch up to 30 feet tall. READ MORE

Holiday Food Science Festival

Corona, Queens
Museum visitors can participate in a series of demonstrations that explore and celebrate the foods, traditions and science in play at holiday tables. They can learn pickling and preservation techniques; taste and determine how cooking with what some might consider waste crops can be delicious and environmentally friendly; explore tasty and sustainable side dishes made with insects; and learn the science involved in creating their favorite cheese.  READ MORE

Holiday Lights at the Bronx Zoo

Bronx Park, the Bronx
Holiday Lights return to the Bronx Zoo, bigger, brighter, and greener than ever before. The beloved holiday tradition covers acres of the zoo, lighting the grounds with custom Asian lanterns, wildlife-themed LED displays, and animated light shows on the historic Astor Court. READ MORE

Manhattan Ballet School Nutcracker Suite

Upper East Side
The Manhattan Ballet Company presents children and graduates of the Manhattan Ballet School in the 42nd production of The Nutcracker Suite. READ MORE

My First Nutcracker

Midtown West
Clara and the Prince travel to a magical kingdom filled with delicious treats, dancing flowers and a pesky mouse king in this holiday classic re-imagined for little theatergoers by New York City Children's Theater. READ MORE

Winterland Rink Opening Weekend

Seaport
New York City’s newest ice skating destination, the Winterland Rink, is officially open. READ MORE

Goddard Riverside Book Fair

Upper West Side
Shop brand-new bestsellers while supporting programs for the community. Goddard's annual fair features fiction, nonfiction, mystery, history, biography, cookbooks, young adult, children's and more, plus handcrafted knitwear and jewelry. READ MORE
Get raking at Madison Square Park's Leaf Fest. Photo courtesy of NYC Parks
Get raking at Madison Square Park's Leaf Fest. Photo courtesy of NYC Parks

Things To Do Saturday, November 23

Madison Square Park Leaf Fest

Gramercy — FREE
The Madison Square Park "Leaf Fest" gives kids and families an opportunity to do a little community service, raking and bagging leaves in the park to keep it clean for all visitors to enjoy. READ MORE

Turkey Bowl: Friends, Family and Football

Flushing Meadows, Queens — FREE
What goes better with a big Thanksgiving dinner than some football? Come out and play in the Turkey Bowl at Al Oerter Recreation Center! All those interested in playing should be on the field 15 minutes prior to the start of their age group’s game. READ MORE

13th Annual Brooklyn Children's Book Fair

Prospect Heights, Brooklyn — FREE
Meet your favorite Brooklyn authors and illustrators at the annual Brooklyn Children's Book Fair. This free event features author readings, illustrator presentations, and book-related art-making opportunities with over forty creators presenting storybooks, picture books, and graphic novels. READ MORE

Living History: Meet the She-Merchants

Upper West Side
Who were the she-merchants? They were the pioneering woman who worked in business and trade in 18th-century New York. READ MORE

Skyscraper Hand Turkeys

The Battery
Thankful for skyscrapers? Put an architectural twist on the classic hand turkey, replacing feathers with skyscrapers. READ MORE

Events for Youth and Families: Cara's Caterpillars

Prospect Heights, Brooklyn — FREE
Party, clap, dance, and sing along with Cara Samantha and her musicians as they present their variety of pop, Motown, Disney, and family favorite songs. READ MORE

From the Page to the Stage: How Music Is Made

Columbia
Harlem School of the Arts and Harlem Chamber Players present an interactive concert that explores the historical, theoretical, and stylistic components of music composition and performance. READ MORE
Get your groove on at Rock and Roll Playhouse at Brooklyn Bowl. Photo courtesy of Brooklyn Bowl
Get your groove on at Rock and Roll Playhouse at Brooklyn Bowl. Photo courtesy of Brooklyn Bowl

Things To Do Sunday, November 24

Happy Pawlidays

Union Square — FREE
Celebrate the start of the Holiday Season in Union Square with fun for families and furry friends! READ MORE

Girl Power: How Clara Lemlich Changed the World

Lower East Side
The Museum at Eldridge Street hosts a special family program to learn more about what girls’ lives were like in the early 1900s, and how one brave activist made them so much better! READ MORE

Picture This! Sunday: Hopalong Andrew Band

Upper East Side
Hopalong Andrew and his crackerjack band of world-class Americana musicians playfully adapt traditional folk songs and classic country songs to reflect city life for urban cowpokes. READ MORE

Riverdale Temple Kids Arts & Crafts Day and Gift Fair

Riverdale, the Bronx
The Riverdale Temple’s Artisan and Fair Trade Crafts Fair and Kids’ Arts-and-Crafts Family Fun Day features a crafting event for kids, which includes three different activities and includes instruction and all materials ($5 per child), a raffle, and a full array of snacks, baked goods, and beverages, as well as all the goods and gifts on sale at the fair. READ MORE

Expressing Gratitude Through Poetry & Dance

Prospect Park South, Brooklyn
Express gratitude through poetry and dance at this annual event. READ MORE

Washington Square Music Festival Presents Music and Poetry

East Village — FREE
Composers W.A. Mozart, Benjamin Britten and Max Reger, as well as poets John Keats, William Blake, and Alfred, Lord Tennyson, are featured at the Washington Square Music Festival’s free concert. READ MORE

Kids 'N Comedy

Chelsea
The Kids ’N Comedy monthly public pro comedy shows feature some of the school’s best comedians performing for audiences of kids (ages 9 + up), families and the general public.   SEPTEMBER 22 “THE BACK TO SCHOOL SHOW” Pencils, books and plenty of shenanigans are to be had at the kick off show to the fall season. Better pick out your outfit the night before. OCTOBER 27 "THE SCARY PRE-HALLOWEEN SHOW" The funniest teenagers in the tri-state area discuss their deepest, darkest, most hilarious fears. NOVEMBER 24 "THE PRE-TURKEY SHOW”?" It's Thanksgiving, and that... READ MORE

Places featured in this article:

Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Garden
New York Hall Of Science
Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College
Goddard Riverside Bernie Wohl Center
Al Oerter Recreation Center, Flushing Meadows Corona Park
Brooklyn Central Library, Dweck Center
Miller Theater at Columbia University