Friday November 10, 2017
Saturday November 11, 2017
Sunday November 12, 2017
Looking for free and cheap things to do in New York City this weekend? We have scoured the internet to find fun, interesting, artsy, tasty, active, educational and unique experiences that you can do this weekend in the city for free or cheap.
If you’re on a budget (or even if you’re not), check out the list below for ideas on what to do this weekend without breaking the bank. Whatever your interests – food, music, movies, theater, dance, comedy, classes, tours, art or games – there’s definitely something here for you!
The Other Art Fair | Art Fair/Festival
- Brooklyn Expo Center, 12:00 PM – 9:00 PM ($15)
- Presented by Saatchi Art, the Fair showcases work by 120 talented emerging artists, each hand-picked by a committee of art world experts. Art lovers can visit the fair with confidence that they are buying from the very best and most promising emerging artists in a unique and immersive experience.
- Event Website
The Salon Art + Design | Art Fair/Festival
- Park Avenue Armory, 11:00 AM – 8:00 PM ($25)
- The Salon Art + Design welcomes the world’s finest international galleries exhibiting historical, modern and contemporary furniture, groundbreaking design and late 19th through 21st century art. Visitors will find designs by the great 20th century masters, as well as creative works by today’s most innovative young artists. Look for Art Deco, Mid Century Modern from America, France, Italy, and Scandinavia paired with the work today’s emerging designers.
- Event Website
Canstruction | Art
- Brookfield Place, 10:00 AM – 8:00 PM (Free!)
- An amazing art exhibit with sculpture created out of food cans. Through this innovative and fun exhibition the Architecture & Engineering community was able to provide art and inspiration to the local community as well as canned food to local hunger relief organizations.
- Suggested donation of one item of canned food for City Harvest.
- Event Website
Winter Village | Fair/Festival
- Bryant Park, 8:00 AM – 10:00 PM (Free!)
- The Winter Village features ice skating, holiday shopping, food, and artisanal boutiques offering delicious eats and exquisite gifts, from distinctive apparel to decorative goods, local food vendors, and more.
- Open through the end of December.
- Event Website
Museum of Modern Art | Museum/Art
- 11 W. 53rd St., 4:00 PM – 9:00 PM (Free!)
- Free admission to the MoMA courtesy of Uniqlo
- Recurs every Friday.mus
- Event Website
Free Music Fridays | Music
- American Folk Art Museum, 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM (Free!)
- This week’s feature includes Dmitri Zisl Slepovitch, Juan Soria, and Maude Gun.
- Recurs every Friday.
- Event Website
OlioMuse In Search of Proust’s Music: Recognizing the Musical Motif | Class Music
- The Strand Bookstore (Manhattan), 7:00 PM ($25, beer included)
- Discussion Topic: Music
- Discussion of the idea that Marcel Proust, when writing his epochal novel In Search of Things Past, was inspired by musical notions of thematic development – especially as embodied in Cesar Franck’s violin sonata – by common consent the greatest violin sonata of the romantic era, and a piece prominently featured in Proust’s great novel.
- The Oliomuse will feature a full performance of the masterpiece by two of NYC’s top talents – Julia Glenn on the violin and Mika Sasaki on piano. Throughout it all, Professor Riley will weave together a tapestry of music, literature, and a vision of old Europe on the precipice of unimaginable change.
- Event Website
US National Air Force Band | Music
- Lehman Center, 7:00 PM (Free!)
- A free concert to honor the US military and veterans.
- Event Website
Morgan Library & Museum | Museum/Art
- Madison Ave & 36th St., 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM (Free!)
- Free admission to the library and museum.
- Recurs every Friday.
- Event Website
Whitney Museum | Museum/Art
- 99 Gansevoort Street (Chelsea), 7:00 PM – 10:00 PM (Free!)
- Free/pay what you wish admission to the Whitney Museum.
- Recurs every Friday.
- Event Website
“Rocky” Screening With An Egg Yolk Cocktail | Film
- Videology Bar & Cinema (Brooklyn), 9:30 PM ($24)
- Synopsis: Rocky Balboa, a small-time boxer from working-class Philadelphia, is arbitrarily chosen to take on the reigning world heavyweight champion, Apollo Creed, when the undefeated fighter’s scheduled opponent is injured. While training with feisty former bantamweight contender Mickey Goldmill, Rocky tentatively begins a relationship with Adrian, the wallflower sister of his meat-packer pal Paulie.
- Egg yolk cocktail included.
- Event Website
Relationshit! | Comedy
- Q.E.D. (Astoria), 9:30 PM – 11:00 PM ($8 Advance, $10 Door)
- Features a mix of stories about all kinds of relationships and good old-fashioned new-fangled advice from real-live therapists on stage.
- Event Website
Karaoke | Music Fun & Games
- Union Hall (Brooklyn), Midnight – Late (Free!)
- Karaoke!
- Recurs every Friday.
- Event Website
Veteran’s Day Parade | Fun & Games
- 5th Avenue from 26th to 52nd Street, 11:15 AM – 3:30 PM (Free!)
- The parade features over 300 marching elements and an estimated 30,000+ participants, including veterans of all eras, military units, civic and youth groups, businesses, and top high school marching bands from across America. Floats, military and vintage vehicles and other special elements add to the excitement, which is viewed by over half a million spectators.
- This year’s Grand Marshal is Buzz Aldrin!
- Event Website
Veteran’s Day Celebration | Fair/Festival
- American Folk Art Museum, 12:00 PM – 7:00 PM (Free!)
- Guided tours of the War and Pieced exhibition will be offered, there will be an afternoon film screening of the 1964 classic film Zulu (138 minutes), art historian Jacqueline Atkins will discuss the relationship between quilts and propaganda, and Warrior Writers—a community of military veterans, service members, artists, and allies who reflect on and express the veteran experience—will perform poetry readings. Refreshments and snacks will be served throughout the day.
- RSVP in advance.
- Event Website
The Salon Art + Design | Art Fair/Festival
- Park Avenue Armory, 11:00 AM – 7:00 PM ($25)
- The Salon Art + Design welcomes the world’s finest international galleries exhibiting historical, modern and contemporary furniture, groundbreaking design and late 19th through 21st century art. Visitors will find designs by the great 20th century masters, as well as creative works by today’s most innovative young artists. Look for Art Deco, Mid Century Modern from America, France, Italy, and Scandinavia paired with the work today’s emerging designers.
- Event Website
The Other Art Fair | Art Fair/Festival
- Brooklyn Expo Center, 11:00 AM – 7:00 PM ($15)
- Presented by Saatchi Art, the Fair showcases work by 120 talented emerging artists, each hand-picked by a committee of art world experts. Art lovers can visit the fair with confidence that they are buying from the very best and most promising emerging artists in a unique and immersive experience.
- Event Website
Canstruction | Art
- Brookfield Place, 10:00 AM – 8:00 PM (Free!)
- An amazing art exhibit with sculpture created out of food cans. Through this innovative and fun exhibition the Architecture & Engineering community was able to provide art and inspiration to the local community as well as canned food to local hunger relief organizations.
- Suggested donation of one item of canned food for City Harvest
- Event Website
From Freight to Flowers | Tour
- The High Line, 12:00 PM – 12:45 PM (Free!)
- Hear the story behind New York City’s park in the sky on a special winter walking tour! Join a 45-minute long tour led by High Line Docents, knowledgeable volunteer guides who offer you an insider’s perspective on the park’s history, design, and landscape.
- Recurs Saturdays.
- Event Website
Speed Writing Like Your Life is on the Line | Class
- Poe Park (Bronx), 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM (Free!)
- Feeling creatively stifled? Clear out the cobwebs with this two-hour intensive on speed writing. Go in with an open mind and be ready for a mixture of 10-minute, 15-minute, and 20-minute creative writing drills, forcing you out of your comfort zone and into the euphoria of a good brainstorm. The goal is to push away the feeling of second-guessing every sentence and letting the impulse within guide you. Readings and critiques will be limited, due to time considerations. Arrive prepared to do a whole lot of writing!
- Event Website
Winter Village | Fair/Festival
- Bryant Park, 8:00 AM – 10:00 PM (Free!)
- The Winter Village features ice skating, holiday shopping, food, and artisanal boutiques offering delicious eats and exquisite gifts, from distinctive apparel to decorative goods, local food vendors, and more.
- Open through the end of December.
- Event Website
Shape Up NYC: Zumba | Active Class
- Poe Park (Bronx), 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM (Free!)
- Have fun with Zumba for fitness, health, and well-being.
- Event Website
Chelsea Flea Market | Fair/Festival
- West 25th Street, between 6th Ave & Broadway, 6:30 AM – 6:00 PM ($1 admission)
- Features up to 135 vendors selling antiques, collectibles, ephemera, decorative arts, vintage clothing, jewelry, and other types of antiques (items more than 100 years old), vintage items (including Art Deco and Mid-Century Modern items), and other desirable items from the past.
- Recurs weekly.
- Event Website
Hell’s Kitchen Flea Market | Fair/Festival
- West 39th Street, between 9th & 10th Ave, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM (Free to enter, goods for purchase)
- A place where collectors and top-notch hagglers including fashion hunters, designers, celebs, tourists, and residents shop for antiques, collectibles, vintage clothing, home decorations, furniture, ephemera, jewelry, and more
- Recurs weekly.
- Event Website
Long Island City Flea & Food | Fair/Festival Food
- 5-25 46th Avenue, LIC, 11:00 AM – 6:00 PM (Free to enter, goods for purchase)
- The market has over 80 carefully curated vendors that sell items such as internationally inspired food & drink, antiques, art, furniture, fashion, jewelry, arts & crafts and much more
- Recurs weekly.
- Event Website
Smorg Square | Food Fair/Festival
- SoHo, 11:00 AM – 8:00 PM (Free to enter, food and drink for purchase)
- 75-100 food and drink vendors
- Recurs through the holidays.
- Event Website
The Green Team | Active
- Brooklyn Bridge Park, 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM (Free!)
- Volunteer with the Green Team: The Green Team provides essential horticultural care to the Park, including planting, mulching, and removing invasive plants. The Green Team is a wonderful opportunity to learn about gardening, enjoy nature, and make the Park look its best.
- Recurs Saturdays.
- Event Website
Running Wild: Introduction to Trail Running | Active Class
- Willowbrook Park (Staten Island), 10:00 AM (Free!)
- Join for a free clinic designed to help you become more comfortable and adept at trail running. Stride adjustment, trail assessment, gear choices and safety will be discussed.
- Register in advance, space is limited.
- Event Website
Central Park Tour: Memorial Walk | Tour
- Maine Monument, 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM (Free!)
- Highlights of this tour include Maine Monument, Merchant’s Gate, Heckscher Ballfields, 7th Regiment Memorial, S. Rankin Drew Memorial, Navy Terrace and Navy Walk, 307th Infantry Regiment Memorial, Red Cross Memorial Flagpole, 107th Infantry Regiment Memorial, and the Arsenal.
- Event Website
Garden Highlights Walk | Tour
- Wave Hill, 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM (Free!)
- Join a Wave Hill Garden Guide for an hour-long tour of seasonal garden highlights.
- Event Website
Nature Exploration Hike | Active
- Highland Park (Queens), 11:00 AM – 2:30 PM (Free!)
- Urban Park Rangers will introduce you to the hidden gems of New York City. This is a moderate hike.
- Event Website
Brooklyn Brewery Tours | Tour Food
- Brooklyn Brewery, 12:30 PM – 6:00 PM (Free!)
- Tour the brewery and learn how beer is made.
- Recurs every Saturday & Sunday.
- Event Website
Create Your Own Holiday Wrapping Paper | Class Fun & Games
- Poe Visitor Center, 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM (Free!)
- Adults will make their own, creative gift wrapping paper for the coming holidays. Participants will take inspiration from fall and winter seasons, as well as the holidays for each month.
- October: Fall, Poe, Halloween
- November: Fall, Thanksgiving
- December: Whimsical Winter Wonder, Christmas, and Hanukah
- Recurs Saturdays through December.
- Event Website
Union Square Park Tour | Tour
- Union Square, 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM (Free!)
- Explore the social and political history of the Union Square neighborhood and learn about the people and events that shaped this vibrant historical community.
- Recurring every Saturday
- Event Website
Bargemusic | Music
- Brooklyn Bridge Park, 4:00 PM (Free!)
- Walk across the gangplank of a renovated coffee barge for a one-hour, family-friendly concert by Bargemusic.
- Recurs Saturdays.
- Event Website
Show & Tale: Soldiers, Sailors & Civilians | Talk
- Old Stone House (Brooklyn), 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM (Free!, but donation welcome)
- See, hear, and experience some of the history experienced by NYC’s many veterans and civilians. You’ll not only learn more about their service, but you’ll make some new friends, and share, if you like, some of your very own stories. Every Thing has a story.
- Event Website
Trivia Night | Fun & Games
- One Star Bar (Manhattan), 7:00 PM (Free!)
- Hosted by Tony Hightower of TriviaNYC and John Chaneski of NPR’s “Ask Me Another“.
- Recurring every Saturday
- TriviaNYC Website
- Venue Website
Fairytales Reimagined: “Blancanieves + Rusalochka” Screening with Live Score | Film
- Videology Bar & Cinema (Brooklyn), 9:30 PM ($25)
- The program will feature the 1968 animated short, RUSALOCHKA (The Little Mermaid) from Russia, and the 2012 silent feature, BLANCANIEVES (Snow White) from Spain. One thing’s for sure––these aren’t the Disney fairy tales you grew up with.
- Event Website
Last Stop Laughs | Comedy
- Q.E.D. (Astoria), 11:00 PM – 12:30 AM (Free!)
- Late night stand up.
- Recurs every Saturday.
- Event Website
DJ Party | Music Dance
- Union Hall (Brooklyn), Midnight – Late (Free!)
- DJ Colleen Crumbcake (East Village Radio) spins a late night mix of heavy hitters starting at midnight to make your booty bounce! Hip Hop, Mainstream Dance Hits, Classic Soul, Old Skool, & Disco.
- Recurs most Saturday nights.
- Event Website
DIY Stamp Creation | Class
- Q.E.D. (Astoria), 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM ($55)
- Students in this class will learn basic relief printing techniques, creating their own linoleum block stamp from design to carving to printing. Everyone will go home with their own unique stamp, an edition of prints and info on how to continue the printing at home!
- Event Website
World’s Fair History Walking Tour | Tour
- Unisphere (Queens), 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM (Free!)
- The one-hour tour stops at a dozen of the 40 remaining World’s Fair sites, structures, and monuments from New York City’s two World’s Fairs (1939/40 and 1964/65). Stops include the Unisphere, Rocket Thrower, Whispering Column of Jerash, and the New York State Pavilion.
- Event Website
Central Park Tour: Heart of the Park | Tour
- 5th Ave and 72nd Street, 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM (Free!)
- Highlights include Conservatory Water, Loeb Boathouse, Bethesda Terrace, Bow Bridge, Cherry Hill, the lake, and Strawberry Fields.
- Event Website
The Other Art Fair | Art Fair/Festival
- Brooklyn Expo Center, 11:00 AM – 6:00 PM ($15)
- Presented by Saatchi Art, the Fair showcases work by 120 talented emerging artists, each hand-picked by a committee of art world experts. Art lovers can visit the fair with confidence that they are buying from the very best and most promising emerging artists in a unique and immersive experience.
- Event Website
The Salon Art + Design | Art Fair/Festival
- Park Avenue Armory, 11:00 AM – 7:00 PM ($25)
- The Salon Art + Design welcomes the world’s finest international galleries exhibiting historical, modern and contemporary furniture, groundbreaking design and late 19th through 21st century art. Visitors will find designs by the great 20th century masters, as well as creative works by today’s most innovative young artists. Look for Art Deco, Mid Century Modern from America, France, Italy, and Scandinavia paired with the work today’s emerging designers.
- Event Website
Canstruction | Art
- Brookfield Place, 10:00 AM – 8:00 PM (Free!)
- An amazing art exhibit with sculpture created out of food cans. Through this innovative and fun exhibition the Architecture & Engineering community was able to provide art and inspiration to the local community as well as canned food to local hunger relief organizations.
- Suggested donation of one item of canned food for City Harvest.
- Event Website
Community Rowing | Class Active
- Village Community Boathouse Pier 40 (Manhattan), 12:00 PM – 6:00 PM (Free!)
- A basic introduction to rowing for first timers (safety orientation, rowing technique, and terminology) and of course plenty of actual rowing on the Hudson River. The rows take place in five-person wooden rowboats that Village Community Boathouse builds onsite. The rows last, depending on river conditions and rower level experience, between one and three hours. Most of these rows have mixed crews with those that have never been on the river before and some old hands.
- Event Website
Patterns of Nature | Active
- Van Cortlandt Park (Bronx), 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM (Free!)
- Join Urban Park Rangers on a hike that will challenge your creativity and engage your recognition skills in making art from everyday objects you see in the woods. You’ll see a whole new world open up before you as you explore the woods and find familiar shapes and patterns that surround us every day.
- Event Website
Winter Village | Fair/Festival
- Bryant Park, 8:00 AM – 10:00 PM (Free!)
- The Winter Village features ice skating, holiday shopping, food, and artisanal boutiques offering delicious eats and exquisite gifts, from distinctive apparel to decorative goods, local food vendors, and more.
- Open through the end of December.
- Event Website
Chelsea Flea Market | Fair/Festival
- West 25th Street, between 6th Ave & Broadway, 6:30 AM – 6:00 PM ($1 admission)
- Features up to 135 vendors selling antiques, collectibles, ephemera, decorative arts, vintage clothing, jewelry, and other types of antiques (items more than 100 years old), vintage items (including Art Deco and Mid-Century Modern items), and other desirable items from the past
- Recurs weekly.
- Event Website
Hell’s Kitchen Flea Market | Fair/Festival
- West 39th Street, between 9th & 10th Ave, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM (Free to enter, goods for purchase)
- A place where collectors and top-notch hagglers including fashion hunters, designers, celebs, tourists, and residents shop for antiques, collectibles, vintage clothing, home decorations, furniture, ephemera, jewelry, and more
- Recurs weekly.
- Event Website
Grand Bazaar | Fair/Festival
- 77th St. & Columbus Ave., 10:00 AM – 5:30 PM (Free!)
- Recurring every Sunday.
- The largest curated weekly market on the Upper West Side: indoors & outdoors, local artist, designers, and antique/vintage dealers sell one-of-a-kind and limited edition art, antique watches, vintage collectibles and fashion, handmade jewelry and furniture.
- Event Website
Smorg Square | Food Fair/Festival
- SoHo, 11:00 AM – 7:00 PM (Free to enter, food and drink for purchase)
- 75-100 food and drink vendors
- Recurs through the holidays.
- Event Website
Long Island City Flea & Food | Fair/Festival Food
- 5-25 46th Avenue, LIC, 11:00 AM – 6:00 PM (Free to enter, goods for purchase)
- The market has over 80 carefully curated vendors that sell items such as internationally inspired food & drink, antiques, art, furniture, fashion, jewelry, arts & crafts and much more.
- Recurs weekly.
- Event Website
Brooklyn Brewery Tours | Tour Food
- Brooklyn Brewery, 12:30 PM – 6:00 PM (Free!)
- Tour the brewery and learn how beer is made.
- Recurs every Saturday & Sunday.
- Event Website
World’s Fair History Walking Tour | Tour
- Unisphere (Queens), 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM (Free!)
- The one-hour tour stops at a dozen of the 40 remaining World’s Fair sites, structures, and monuments from New York City’s two World’s Fairs (1939/40 and 1964/65). Stops include the Unisphere, Rocket Thrower, Whispering Column of Jerash, and the New York State Pavilion.
- Event Website
Central Park Tour: West Side Stories | Tour
- 81st Street and Central Park West, 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM (Free!)
- Highlights include Winterdale Arch, Delacorte Theater, Shakespeare Garden, the Swedish Cottage, and Ladies’ Pavilion.
- Event Website
Trivia Night | Fun & Games
- Arts & Crafts Beer Parlor Soha (by Columbia), 7:00 PM (Free!)
- Recurring every Sunday
- Each week features an “On This Day In History” round, a rapid-fire “Name Threes” round, the best-curated audio round in the city, and tons of prizes, including books, theater tickets, & other prizes (many of them drinkable).
- TriviaNYC Website
- Venue Website
Madams of the Universe | Comedy
- Q.E.D. (Astoria), 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM ($7)
- A feminist stand-up and storytelling show featuring some of New York’s best comedians and storytellers.
- Event Website
Picture This! | Comedy
- Union Hall (Brooklyn), 10:00 PM ($8 Advance, $10 Door)
- A live comedy show with stand-ups performing while they are drawn live by some of the best animators, cartoonists.
- Event Website
