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Weekend Fun: Car-Free Earth Day, Arbor Day, and Festivals Galore

Get ready for old-school fun at the 12th Annual Street Games at Thomas Jefferson Park in East Harlem. Photo courtesy of NYC Parks
Get ready for old-school fun at the 12th Annual Street Games at Thomas Jefferson Park in East Harlem. Photo courtesy of NYC Parks
4/24/19 - By Drew Kristofik

National Arbor Day is April 26, so naturally this weekend includes lots of tree-themed outings. For starters, the massive Brooklyn Botanic Garden Sakura Matsuri festival takes place all weekend, celebrating those fleeting cherry blossoms and Japanese culture. More tree hugging can be accomplished at Wave Hill's Arbor weekend, at The Evergreens Cemetery, and at the Queens Botanical Arbor Fest. While you're in Queens, stop by the Hello Kitty Cafe Truck for a snack.

All that, plus Car Free Earth Day is back in Manhattan and Brooklyn on Saturday, and every borough is hosting festivals galore, including this weekend's Street Games in Harlem, the Puppetry Arts Fest in Park Slope, the free NYFEST (about all things soccer) in Brooklyn Bridge Park, Prospect Park's Earth Day fest, the Jack and Jill School Spring Fair in Stuyvesant Town, and Staten Island's How To Festival, to name just a few. And something more to chew on: the Brooklyn Public Library celebrates the Very Hungry Caterpillar's 50th anniversary on Sunday.

Check out our Spring Fun Guide, the best upcoming family festivals this season, events for the pre-K and toddler crowd, and more outdoor fun like the May 1 opening of Governors Island, or maybe a little mini golf (did you know there are now 14 miniature golf courses in NYC—at least one in each borough?)! And don't forget the calendar, which gets fatter every day as summer approaches!

OUR LATEST VIDEOS

Learn to plant and care for trees at Arbor Week at Wave Hill. Photo courtesy of Wave Hill
Learn to plant and care for trees at Arbor Week at Wave Hill. Photo courtesy of Wave Hill

All Weekend

Arbor Day Weekend at Wave Hill

Wave Hill, the Bronx
Wave Hill celebrates Arbor Day all weekend with family walks, arts and crafts, and more outdoor activities. READ MORE

Sakura Matsuri Cherry Blossom Festival

Prospect Heights, Brooklyn
Sakura Matsuri, the annual cherry blossom festival at BBG, offers more than 60 events and performances that celebrate traditional and contemporary Japanese culture. READ MORE

A Year with Children 2019: Opening Weekend

Upper East Side
Learning Through Art (LTA), the Guggenheim’s pioneering arts education program, presents A Year with Children 2019. This annual presentation showcases select artworks by students in grades two through six from twelve public schools that participated in the LTA program during the 2018–19 school year. READ MORE

Earth Day Month at the Children's Museum of Manhattan

Upper West Side
Make everyday Earth Day this April and spring into action to support our planet’s many creatures, the environment, and more. READ MORE

Spring Recess: MoMI Goes Green

Astoria, Queens
This spring recess, MoMI will present daily screenings of the action-packed Wallace & Gromit film The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, featuring the beloved duo chasing rabbits and trying to solve the case of the missing vegetables. Families are also invited to participate in an array of green-themed activities relating to springtime and to celebrate Earth Day: performing in front of a green-screen, making claymation movies and characters inspired by Were-Rabbit, and creating flowers and plants from recyclable objects to add to the “MoMI Garden.” READ MORE
The Hello Kitty Cafe Truck returns to The Shops at SkyView Center on Saturday. Photo courtesy of the Hello Kitty Cafe Truck
The Hello Kitty Cafe Truck returns to The Shops at SkyView Center on Saturday. Photo courtesy of the Hello Kitty Cafe Truck

Saturday, April 27

NYFest

Dumbo, Brooklyn — FREE
NYFEST, an annual industry soccer tournament and community event, features food trucks, exhibitors, live music, and a Youth Showcase led by NYCFC with games, skill challenges, and other activities for kids, all free and open to the public.   READ MORE

Hello Kitty Cafe Truck

Flushing, Queens — FREE
The Hello Kitty Cafe Truck returns to The Shops at SkyView Center. READ MORE

Street Games

East Harlem — FREE
NYC Parks hosts the 13th annual Street Games at Thomas Jefferson Park in Harlem! Street Games re-introduces classic, low-tech games played in the city in the '60s and '70s to a new generation of kids. The event is open to all ages and abilities. READ MORE

Car Free Earth Day

West Side — FREE
Thirty blocks of Broadway, from Times Square to Union Square, invite people to explore on foot - streets cleared of vehicular traffic - from 9am-3pm. READ MORE

Car-Free Earth Day

Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn — FREE
Head to Car Free Earth Day in Downtown Brooklyn’s Albee Square where the Square will be closed to traffic for the day to celebrate Earth Day. READ MORE

Grant's 197th Birthday Celebration & Children's Festival

Morningside Heights — FREE
The National Park Service invites families to celebrate Ulysses S. Grant’s 197th birthday! READ MORE

The Mighty Cacophonous Orchestrasauras

Hudson Heights — FREE
Students in Kindergarten through 5th grade, and their parents, are invited to a very special concert where the audience discovers what makes the orchestra such an amazing creature! READ MORE

Farmhouse Family Day: Earth Day Celebration

East Flatbush, Brooklyn — FREE
Reconnect with the earth – and your neighbors – at the April Family Day at the Wyckoff House.  READ MORE

Earth Day Celebration: How-To Festival

North Shore, Staten Island
The Museum transforms into a giant interactive science fair celebrating the community’s know-how with hands-on workshops, drop-in presentations, and scheduled lectures fun for all ages. Local experts, enthusiasts, hobbyists, and professionals share their particular passions, ranging from activities that require highly specialized skills to those anyone can do. READ MORE

Nooma

Midtown West — FREE
A new opera for babies uses parachutes to create an intimate world of wonder and interaction. Designed and performed by Moving Star Vocal Ensemble, the performance invites audiences into an expanding and contracting world and immerses them in a parachute’s movements as it becomes a metaphor for breathing. READ MORE
The Queens Botanic Garden’s Arbor Fest is a fun-filled celebration of trees and the environment. Photo courtesy of the garden
The Queens Botanic Garden’s Arbor Fest is a fun-filled celebration of trees and the environment. Photo courtesy of the garden

Sunday, April 28

Arbor Festival 2020

Flushing, Queens
Mark the 50th anniversary of Earth Day at Queens Botanical Garden’s 10th annual Arbor Fest with fun for all ages. READ MORE

St. George Day 2020

St, George, Staten Island
An Earth Day and arts festival celebrating community and dragons. Watch a parade, meet fairies, and enjoy music, art, and more performances. READ MORE

The Very Hungry Caterpillar 50th Birthday Party

Prospect Heights, Brooklyn — FREE
Be part of The Very Hungry Caterpillar's 50th birthday celebration and nationwide tour! Listen to Eric Carle's beloved children's book at this very special story time, participate in fun crafts and other activities and take photos with The Very Hungry Caterpillar and his cool car. READ MORE

B’Earthday Bash in Prospect Park

Prospect Park, Brooklyn — FREE
Prospect Park Alliance hosts a fun and festive day in the park—with a lot to celebrate! It’s Earth Day, the Prospect Park Audubon Center’s 20th anniversary, and the birthday of two legends: naturalist John James Audubon, and…the 200th anniversary of the birth of landscape architect, and Prospect Park’s creator, Frederick Law Olmsted! READ MORE

Frieze Sculpture Family Art-Making

Midtown West — FREE
More than 20 sculptures transform Rockefeller Center into a free public art park and The Noguchi Museum and Rockefeller Center are offering a series of free family artmaking programs every other Sunday while the installation is on display. READ MORE

Kids 'N Comedy Present: Springtime in New York

Chelsea
Kids 'N Comedy, New York's leading presenter of young comic talent, presents a one-of-a-kind show of original standup material by teenage comedians. READ MORE

Family Concert: Hot Peas 'N Butter

Upper East Side
Hot Peas 'N Butter's multicultural rhythms range from vibrant Puerto Rican folk music to soulful American blues. The band performs tunes celebrating nature from their latest release, Back to The Land.. READ MORE

Nobody Likes Hardtack: A Civil War Food Presentation

Upper West Side
Known for his work on the movie Gettysburg (1993), Gods and Generals (2003), and Gettysburg: Three Days of Destiny (2004), as both an actor and a chief historical advisor, performing historian Patrick Falci discusses what life was like for Civil War soldiers, including their diets. Attendees have an opportunity to sample some savory and not-so-savory tidbits, including hardtack. Yuck! READ MORE

Places featured in this article:

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
Museum of the Moving Image
Fort Washington Collegiate Church
Queens Botanical Garden
Brooklyn Central Library - Main Lobby