There are many signs of summer in New York. The restaurants have outdoor seating, your enjoying cocktails on roof tops and the Yankees are in first place. The season has people in a better mood and schedules are jammed packed with lots of fun activities.
As we march on to the Official Start of Summer, we’ll continue to fill you in on the exciting events that may not be on your list. Next up, The Annual Museum Mile Festival.
This free event has happening for 41 years and gets better with age. It’s a no-frills true appreciation of what a world class city we live in.
The festival began as an initiative to spur the development of new museum audiences and to increase support for the arts during the fiscal crisis of the 1970s. Museum Mile was formed as a consortium by the museums that share the Fifth Avenue address. The first festival, held in June of 1978, was an instant success. Not only did it expose New Yorkers and NYC visitors to an incredible collection of New York’s artistic riches, it also brought together disparate New Yorkers. From the barrios of East Harlem and the townhouses lining the Upper East Side, to the winding streets of the Village and the clustered neighborhoods of the outer-boroughs, people came to celebrate their shared pride in our city.
So how does it work? Simple! Walk the Mile on Fifth Avenue between 82nd Street and 110th Street while visiting some of New York City’s finest cultural institutions, which are open free to the public throughout the evening. Special exhibitions and works from permanent collections are on view inside the museums’ galleries, with live music and art-making workshops on Fifth Avenue at selected museums.
The annual Museum Mile Festival takes place rain or shine on Tuesday, June 11, 2019, from 6 to 9 pm. For more information, visit museummilefestival.org.