Weekend Fun: Summer Solstice, Mermaid Parade, Drums Along the Hudson

Join NYBG Summer Solstice Weekend, the first big harvest of the growing season, to celebrate the long summer days ahead. Photo courtesy of NYBG
Join NYBG Summer Solstice Weekend, the first big harvest of the growing season, to celebrate the long summer days ahead. Photo courtesy of NYBG
6/19/19 - By Drew Kristofik

This weekend Coney Island hosts a little something called the Mermaid Parade, Drums Along the Hudson pounds a steady beat in Inwood, Randall's Island hosts a splashy Waterfront Festival, and you can stomp on the porches on Governors Island.

Summer solstice, celebrating the longest day of the year, spills over into Saturday revelries with family fun at the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx and free workshops at Cooper Hewitt. Two terrific Shakespeare productions—in addition to the big Delacourt Theatre offering—are up and running this weekend: Hamlet, at Castle Clinton, and Romeo and Juliet on the Smith Street Stage in Carroll Gardens. Plus, superheroes can commune with like-minded do-gooders at the NYSoM SuperHero SciFi Fest.

Our encyclopedic Free Outdoor Movie guide keeps growing. This weekend, Mary Poppins Returns to Greenwich Village, Ralph Breaks the Internet in Brooklyn on Saturday in Harry Maze Park and Sunday in Kolbert Park as well as in Queens' Astoria Park, and families can brush up on Captain America's origin story on Staten Island.

Heat getting to you? Check out our parent-tested list of great water parks for toddlers or best water playgrounds and sprinklers. And, as always, scroll through our calendar to find all the best things happening near you and around NYC.

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Places featured in this article:


Jamaica Performing Arts Center (JPAC)

New York Historical Society DiMenna Children's History Museum

Beach 108th Street Roller Rink

Atlantic Terminal Plaza

Corporal John A. Seravalli Playground