Bryant Park

An urban oasis with something for everyone come the warm days of summer. From June 15th through August 17th the HBO Bryant Park Summer Film Festival takes place Mondays at sunset, with the lawn opening at 5 PM enjoy a movie, starting with The Sting. Thursday afternoons starting July 9th through August 13th, it's Broadway in Bryant Park with popular shows on and off Broadway giving lunch-time performances. For more information visit BryantPark.org

Central Park

Bring a blanket, pack a picnic and head to the parks all summer long to enjoy performances by some of New York City's finest. The Music in the Park runs from May through Labor Day. All summer, the Central Park Conservancy hosts a number of free events including the Harlem Meer Performance Festival, free walking tours, family activities, music and arts programming, and more. For more information visit CentralParkNYC.org

The Harlem Meer Performance Festival at the Charles A. Dana Discovery Center takes place Sundays starting June 21st through September 6th. From 2PM to 4PM these FREE concerts feature local emerging and established Latin, Jazz, World, and Gospel artists. Please call 212-860-1370 for more information or visit Harlem Meer Performance Festival at Central Park

New York Philharmonic Concerts

Concerts in the Parks July 14th through July 17th, sponsored by Target, will be taking place around the city. The first, on July 14th takes place in Central Park at 8 PM, July 15th at Prospect Park in Brooklyn. On July 16th, head to Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, and finally, back to Central Park on July 17th. For more information go to NYPHIL - Summer in the Park

Life's a Beach

The City's beaches opened to the public on Saturday, May 23, with lifeguards on duty daily, from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Swimming is strictly prohibited at all other times. Beaches will remain open through Labor Day weekend. City beaches span a total of 14 miles and include Orchard Beach in the Bronx; Coney Island and Manhattan Beach in Brooklyn; Rockaway Beach in Queens; and Midland Beach, South Beach, and Wolfe's Pond Beach in Staten Island. All City beaches are free to the public. For more information, visit NYC.gov

SummerStage 2009 is Here

Celebrating its twentieth anniversary, City Parks Foundation is pleased to announce the 2009 season schedule of its flagship free performing arts festival, Central Park SummerStage. Internationally acclaimed for presenting world-renowned and emerging talent from around the globe and New York City’s own backyard, the Central Park SummerStage season promises to be as electrifying as ever with a calendar chock-full of culturally diverse programs in multiple disciplines including music, dance, word, film, and comedy.

The celebration kicks off with Josh Ritter and The New York Pops on Friday, June 12, 2009 from 8:00 PM to 10:00 PM. For more information visit Central Park SummerStage.

CityParks - Dance

CityParks Dance has another impressive season line-up including an interactive program and performance by the highly acclaimed ballet company Morphoses/The Wheedon Company. The festival also presents African American troupe Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, break dancing experts Illstyle & Peace Productions, and nathantrice/RITUALS abstract expressionists. Dance master classes will be featured before all performances, and will be taught by dance professionals and choreographers. Across the city -- they'll be dancin'. Read more at CityParksFoundation - Dance

CityParks - Theater

The 2009 season marks several exciting new additions to CityParks Theater presented by Time Warner including City Parks Foundation’s first ever commissioned play, Dirt Rich by Chisa Hutchinson. The festival also features a modern adaptation of William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream performed by the Continuum Company, and will also welcome acclaimed poet, jessica Care moore, as she fuses music and spoken word in her celebrated one-woman show, God is Not an American. Three-time New York Innovative Theater Award winning production, Dancing vs. The Rat Experiment, will round out the festival with a genre-defying piece performed by the company Witness Relocation. For more information go to CityParksFoundation - Theater

Charlie Parker Jazz Festival

The Charlie Parker Jazz Festival annually assembles some of the finest musicians in the world who reflect Parker’s musical individuality and genius, to promote appreciation for this highly influential and world-renowned artist. The two days of free concerts take place in neighborhoods where Charlie Parker lived and worked, in Harlem’s Marcus Garvey Park and the Lower East Side's Tompkins Square Park.

The music starts at 3:00 PM at Marcus Garvey Park (124th St. & Mt. Morris Park) on Saturday, August 29, and at Tompkins Square Park (E. 8th St. Between Aves. A & B) on Sunday, August 30. For more information visit CityParksFoundation - Charlie Parker Jazz

CityParks - Concerts, starting July 7th at neighborhood parks around the city

CityParks Concerts is proud to present top musical acts including Grammy award-winning R& B singer Chrisette Michele, salsa sensation Frankie Negron, popular “experimental” band Man Man, and gospel music sensation and Grammy Award-winning pastor of Brooklyn’s Love Fellowship Tabernacle, Hezekiah Walker. City Parks Foundation is also welcoming back the fan favorites hip-hop group Naughty By Nature, KRS-One, and Slick Rick. For more information visit CityParksFoundation - Concerts

Shakespeare in the Park

What would summer be without the performance provided by The Public Theater? This year they will be featuring Twelfth Night from June 10th through July 12th, and The Bacchae by Euripides (Music by PHILIP GLASS) from August 12th through August 30th.

The tickets are FREE, but you have to pick them up IN CENTRAL PARK on the day of the performance beginning at 1PM at The Delacorte Theater in Central Park. The closest entrances to the Delacorte are at 81st Street and Central Park West or 79th Street and Fifth Avenue. There is a limit of 2 tickets per person. Please check back in late-May at their website for more information. For more information visit PublicTheater.org

Gotta Love Brooklyn - Movies With A View

This is one of the city’s premiere outdoor film series with an eclectic lineup of films and breathtaking views of the NYC waterfront. The films are chosen by an all-volunteer Film Committee and each feature is preceded by a short film. DJs from Brooklyn Radio kick off the evening, spinning tunes as the sun sets, and RICE sells delicious dinners onsite. Bike valet provided by Transportation Alternatives. Presenting sponsor: SCI FI.

It takes place on Thursdays starting July 9th through August 27th at 6PM to 11PM on the lawn, at Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park section of Brooklyn Bridge Park. This is a FREE program. For more information visit BrooklynBridgePark.org

Celebrate Brooklyn

There's Celebrate Brooklyn one of New York's longest-running, free, summer outdoor performing festivals at the Prospect Park Band Shell. Monday, June 8th is opening night. David Byrne -- “The Music of David Byrne and Brian Eno” starts at 8:00pm/gates 6:30pm.

In Lower Manhattan

The Downtown NYC River to River Festival takes place late May through September, offering nearly 500 free, music, dance and cultural events each summer in venues spanning from Battery Park to City Hall Park. There's something for everyone, and everywhere, from Battery Park to Zuccotti Park. This is a don't miss New York celebration. The Howl! Festival howls with five days of dance, music, performance, poetry & writing.

Movies in the Park in Queens

In Queens, Socrates Sculpture Park , in collaboration with Museum of the Moving Image and Partnerships for Parks, presents the 10th annual outdoor international film festival. Each evening focuses on a different country or culture and visitors are invited to sample regional cuisine from neighborhood restaurants, picnic on the grass, listen to performances by local musicians, enjoy the cool waterfront breeze as the sun sets over the Manhattan skyline and watch exceptional international films on an outdoor screen. From July 15 - August 19 it's Wednesdays for FREE fun begining at 7PM, films start at sunset (Weather permitting).