Indigenous Peoples Day Weekend in NYC: Best Things To Do with Kids

The Brooklyn Children's Museum's rooftop hosts an Indigenous Peoples Day celebration with storytelling, live music, theater performances, and more! Photo by Winston Williams
The Brooklyn Children's Museum's rooftop hosts an Indigenous Peoples Day celebration with storytelling, live music, theater performances, and more! Photo by Winston Williams
10/6/23 - By Drew Kristofik

It's Indigenous Peoples Day weekend in NYC, and we've found tons of things to do with kids. Here are our top picks for family-friendly events and activities to add to your list for this long holiday weekend.

Indigenous Peoples Day falls on Monday, October 9, and marks the holiday formerly known as Columbus Day for NYC's school kids. Families can visit Governors Island for FREE dance performances or head to Randall's Island to celebrate the original native New Yorkers on Sunday and Monday. Columbus Day celebrations linger as well, including the nearly century-old parade on Fifth Avenue.

Beyond the holiday, the weekend is packed: Carnegie Hall's FREE family day salutes 50 years of hip-hop. And kids get turned on to classical music at the Queens Theatre's Classical Kids Fair. If you're venturing out on Saturday, double check for weather cancelations! If you need coverage on Monday, there are some school holiday camps too. 

Read on for our top picks for the coming weekend, and check out our New York City Kids' Halloween Guide, which is ready to help you plan out the rest of this month.

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Places featured in this article:


Little Red Lighthouse (in Fort Washington Park)

Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum