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Weekend Fun: Flower Show, Purim, Kids' Theater, Circus...and Desserts!

Astonishing athletes defy gravity and execute breathtaking feats in the spellbinding New Shanghai Circus. Photo courtesy of the circus
Astonishing athletes defy gravity and execute breathtaking feats in the spellbinding New Shanghai Circus. Photo courtesy of the circus
3/20/19 - By Drew Kristofik

It's officially spring! While the weather might not have gotten the memo (yet), the Macy's Flower Show is blooming again with a space-inspired floral fantasy featuring marvelous celestial blooms, and kids can take a trip to outer space with Peppa Pig on opening day this Sunday.

This weekend dishes up plenty of great theater for kids too, including Colors at BAM, The Magic Schoolbus, While You Were Out at LaMama Kids, and Underneath a Magical Moon, a re-imagining of Peter Pan (sign up for the interactive pre-show workshop). The New Shanghai Circus takes a bow in Queens on Saturday and Staten Island on Sunday. 

If you're looking for FREE fun (who isn't?), make balloon cars at Brooklyn's MakerSpace, catch a free concert and screening of Up in Queens, sing songs from around the world with Mr. Patrick at the Children's Library, take in lion dancing (and popcorn!) at Sunset Park's Lantern Cultural Fest, or check out Philosophy for Kids as part of the Tilt Festival at the Brooklyn Library.

Purim parties on at the Riverdale Temple and Rock and Roll Playhouse on Sunday, or make holiday masks all weekend at the Children's Museum of Manhattan. And for the cherry on top, confections rule at the Dessert Goals Festival, all weekend in Long Island City.

For more, more, more, peruse the March GoList, FREE things to do this month, and our ever-expanding calendar.

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Because dessert is always a good idea, Dessert Goals is back in NYC. Photo courtesy of Dessert Goals
Because dessert is always a good idea, Dessert Goals is back in NYC. Photo courtesy of Dessert Goals

All Weekend

Dessert Goals Festival

Long Island City, Queens
Join the sweetest festival ever! This year's fest will feature a curated range of the city’s top dessert vendors, hand-picked to include both new and well-established purveyors of the best desserts in NYC and beyond. READ MORE

Colors at BAM

Fort Greene, Brooklyn
In this interactive performance, Italian company Compagnia TPO (Kindur, Bleu!) creates a multi-sensory space where human bodies lend movement to the spectrum of colors, transforming them into a living, breathing painting. Featuring dancers and a vibrant digital design, Colors activates the many hues of children’s dreams. READ MORE

La MaMa Kids: While You Are Out

Noho
While You Are Out lands audiences in the heart of Shakespeare’s imagination as woven into Midsummer Night’s Dream Act II, where the fairies and sprites -- along with their king & queen -- play tricks on each other or anyone else who may find themselves wandering through the forest past dark. READ MORE

Adaku’s Revolt - Tilt Festival

Lower East Side
In this Tilt Festival production, MacArthur Fellow Okwui Okpokwasili tells the story of a young black girl who summons her inner strength to revolt against imposed beauty standards and wear her hair naturally. READ MORE

Living History: Meet Madam C.J. Walker at Dimenna Children's Museum

Upper West Side
Meet Madam C.J. Walker, an entrepreneur, philanthropist, and self-made millionaire, who changed the hair routines of black women in America. READ MORE

The Nature of Forgetting

Midtown West
Flying downhill on a bicycle. Whispering with a sweetheart. Wedding toasts and first dances. When the past begins to dissolve for Tom, a father experiencing early onset dementia, happy childhood moments collide with momentous adult milestones in tangled threads of memory. Through intricate choreography and a cinematic live musical score, London-based Theatre Re creates a compellingly powerful narrative of heartwarming humanity that moves you to places where words cannot. READ MORE

Nutcracker 2023

Bay Ridge, Brooklyn
Little ballet students from Bay Ridge Ballet perform their own charming version of the classic ballet. READ MORE
Hop on the Magic School Bus in this new musical adaptation based on the original book series The Magic School Bus. Photo courtesy of TheaterworksUSA
Hop on the Magic School Bus in this new musical adaptation based on the original book series The Magic School Bus. Photo courtesy of TheaterworksUSA

Saturday, March 23

TheaterWorksUSA – The Magic School Bus

Tribeca
When the class gets lost on the way to the planetarium, Ms. Frizzle saves the day by blasting into outer space for an epic interplanetary field trip! But when rivalries both old and new threaten to tear the students apart, our young heroes must learn to pull together or risk getting forever lost in the solar system. Hop on the Magic School Bus for a ride in this new musical adaptation based on the original book series published by Scholastic. READ MORE

Family Concert: Who is Miles Davis?

Midtown West
Jazz for Young People hosts an hour-long narrated concert designed to teach kids all about Miles Davis. Through an engaging script, live musical performances, and crowd participation, families learn about Davis’ trials and triumphs and hear examples of what made his music so special. READ MORE

Make Family Time at Makerspace NYC: Balloon Cars

Sunset Park, Brooklyn — FREE
In this Maker Family Program, students build cars that are powered by air. Using simple materials students learn about Newton's laws of motion. READ MORE

There’s Good in Every Bunny: A Children’s Reading and Activity Hour

Pelham Bay, the Bronx
Educator Angela Parrino, PhD, reads from John Potestivo’s book, There’s Good in Every Bunny, illustrated by Jamie Forbes. Children receive a copy of the book to take home. READ MORE

Identification Day

Upper West Side
Inspired by the legacy of Theodore Roosevelt, the Museum celebrates natural history collections by inviting visitors to bring in their own specimens. Scientists will attempt to identify your discoveries while showing you rarely seen specimens from the Museum's collections. READ MORE

New Shanghai Circus

Flushing, Queens
Direct from China, see this award-winning spectacle of acrobats and dancers perform plate spinning, pole climbing, chair balancing, and more. This troupe of elite gymnasts, cyclists, jugglers and acrobats leave audiences breathless, defying gravity with amazing displays of strength, balance, agility, grace and artistry.   READ MORE

Holi Celebration with the Culture Tree

Upper West Side
The Culture Tree presents a celebration of Holi, the Indian festival of colors, and a celebration of spring, friendship and love! Learn how to celebrate Holi by watching an amazing puppet show and learn to dance in an Indian dance workshop by Ajna Dance Company. READ MORE

UP Movie Screening and Tres Reinas Concert

Kew Gardens, Queens — FREE
A children's concert featuring "Tres Reinas", a trio of musician moms, is followed by a screening of Disney Pixar’s Up. READ MORE

Many Voices: Songs from Around the World

Midtown East — FREE
Mr. Patrick, his guitar and his silly puppet friends invite kids to celebrate songs from cultures throughout the world. READ MORE
The Itty Biddies perform at the New York Hall of Science as part of Carnegie Hall Citywide. Photo by Caroline Voagen Nelson
The Itty Biddies perform at the New York Hall of Science as part of Carnegie Hall Citywide. Photo by Caroline Voagen Nelson

Sunday, March 24

Carnegie Hall Citywide: The Itty Biddies

Corona, Queens
The Itty Biddies’ foot-tapping tunes, crystal-clear vocals and instrumental skills inspire audiences of all ages to sing and dance along with the band. READ MORE

Lantern Cultural Festival

Sunset Park, Brooklyn — FREE
Enjoy cultural performances, martial arts, lion’s dancing, art and crafts, calligraphy, giveaways, free popcorn, cotton candy, and social services booths at this popular annual event. READ MORE

"Philosophy for Kids" at the Tilt Kids Festival

Prospect Heights, Brooklyn — FREE
Bring your budding intellectual to explore some of life’s biggest questions. Philosophy for Kids returns for a fourth year at the Brooklyn Public Library, this time with an all new vision. READ MORE

Purim Masks

Upper West Side
Celebrate Purim by making a decorative mask in Art, Artists & You! READ MORE

Underneath a Magical Moon Reimagining of Peter Pan

Flushing, Queens
tutti frutti & York Theatre Royal re-imagine the enchanting story of Peter Pan as told by Wendy, with a some help from leading British playwright Mike Kenny. READ MORE

New Shanghai Circus

New Brighton, Staten Island
Astonishing athletes defy gravity and execute breathtaking feats as they stretch the limits of human ability in this spellbinding show that draws upon 2,000 years of Chinese circus traditions. READ MORE

Riverdale Temple Purim Carnival

Riverdale, the Bronx
Riverdale Temple's 5th Annual Purim Carnival features four bouncy castles, carnival games with cool prizes, Purim arts & crafts, glitter tattoos, face painting and a balloon artist. READ MORE

The Rock and Roll Playhouse Presents a Purim Party

Williamsburg, Brooklyn
This week, kids celebrate Purim with with Uncle Ebenezer and Rabbi Daniel Brenner and featuring the music of Phish. READ MORE

March Picture Book Bonanza

Chelsea — FREE
Stephen Savage (The Babysitter from Another Planet), Jessica Boehman (The Lions at Night), Andrea Tsurumi (Crab Cakes), and Chris Raschka (Puddle) present their latest books, take questions from the audience, and sign copies of all their books. READ MORE

Broadway Playhouse: Ahrens and Flaherty

Upper West Side
Celebrate the songwriting team of Lynn Ahrens & Stephen Flaherty, who wrote the Broadway shows Seussical, Anastasia, and Once on this Island. Broadway Playhouse performances introduce NYC’s youngest theater fans to classic Broadway musicals with mini-shows, medleys, games and sing-alongs. READ MORE

Places featured in this article:

BAM Fisher, Fishman Space
New York Historical Society DiMenna Children's History Museum
BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center
Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, Children's Center