Festivals and cultural events New York

The Brooklyn equivalent of the Manhattan Summerstage! This festival organized by BRIC (Brooklyn Information & Culture) lasts all summer and offers a varied program of music, dance and theatre. Each week is devoted to a theme and includes pop, jazz, gospel, classical, Latin, African, Caribbean and Latin music, as well as modern, ethnic and classical dance. Finally, the Kings County Shakespeare Company presents, for a week, several pieces by the Stratford master. Although admission is free, a donation of US$3 is strongly recommended.

For 10 days in early June (which is the month dedicated to celebrating the LGBT community in New York), since 1988, the New Festival has been offering a global overview of gay, lesbian, transgender and bisexual feature films and those close to their worlds. Individuals and professionals (producers, distributors) meet to discover the productions of large studios, small independent, unusual or experimental films, documentaries, etc. Each year, the Grand Jury Prize is awarded to a participating film.

On November 11, while the armistice is being celebrated in France, Veterans Day is being celebrated in the United States. This holiday, originally known as Armistice Day, was established by President Woodrow Wilson in 1919 to celebrate the end of the First World War. Since then, this commemoration has taken on a broader meaning, and now it pays tribute to all veterans. Veterans of all wars in which American soldiers fought are honored during a large parade on Fifth Avenue.

This holiday commemorates Christopher Columbus' arrival in the New World in October 1492. In New York, the Italian community celebrates and parades on Fifth Avenue to celebrate the navigator, considered a national hero. The celebration nevertheless met with strong opposition from defenders of the indigenous populations, for whom celebrating Columbus Day was tantamount to celebrating the massacres perpetrated by the settlers on the Amerindians. Many cities celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day instead, this is not (yet) the case in New York.

Celebrated on the last Monday in May, Memorial Day is the day of remembrance. This holiday was made official at the federal level in 1967, but it began in 1865, at the end of the Civil War. Originally, it was proclaimed as a tribute to the men who died in military acts during the civil war. Today, he pays tribute to all members of the U.S. Armed Forces who have died in action. A large parade is organized on Fifth Avenue. Today also marks the beginning of the summer season in the United States.

If you've always dreamed of attending an opera but don't have the budget for it, here's a festival that will delight you! From mid-June and for about ten days, you can attend free concerts all over the city, organised by the Metropolitan Opera. The greatest opera singers, usually accompanied by a pianist, perform in New York parks, Central Park, Brooklyn Bridge Park but also in Queens, Socrates Sculpture Park and Staten Island, Clove Lakes Park.

Every summer during the months of July and August, film screenings are organized at McCarren Park. Brooklyn requires, they are often dormant movies, have been made but cults, which are proposed. Movies generally unknown to the French but famous in the United States. So if you are fans of This and Confused, Wet Hot American Summer; and Ferris Bueller, this festival is for you.

Think of taking a cushion or a beach towel because two hours on tar, it can hurt!

The most famous little wizard has grown up... The action of the show, born in London and played on Broadway since 2018, takes place 19 years after the events of the last novel of the saga of J.K. Rowling. It finds Harry, Ron and Hermione as adults and follows the trials and tribulations of their children, including young Albus Potter as he enters Hogwarts. The show remains faithful to the universe of the saga while bringing a certain freshness to it. Magic and bluffing.

Electro still holds an important place in New York thanks to the Electric Zoo festival, launched in 2009. All the greatest DJs and electro artists in the world gather at the beginning of September to get 150,000 fans dancing for three days. Now a fixture on the electro scene, the festival was the target of criticism in 2013 following the death of two festival-goers by overdose. The last day of the festival had finally been cancelled by the organizers at the request of the town hall. The line-up is still quite exceptional.

The Governor's Ball has established itself as one of the most important festivals in the United States. Every year, we find the greatest rock, folk, electro and hip-hop artists. Kanye West, Jack White, Outkast, Interpol, Phoenix, Beck, Kid Cudi, Guns N' Roses or the Strokes followed one another on stage. The festival lasts three days and the music starts at noon. No hipster atmosphere as in Coachella (California), but a thrilling atmosphere for the 12,000 spectators.