The price is right for these arty city events
New York is filled with top-notch arts and culture, but they can really put a dent in your wallet. Here are some great weekend events in music, arts, design and dance - all outdoors, all free.
1. GIGLIO FEAST
WHAT One of New York's oldest and largest festivals - think San Gennaro, but in Brooklyn. Walk through Williamsburg's brightly lit, crowded streets lined with concession stands selling Italian food, and plenty of children's games and rides.
WHEN | WHERE Friday night, 6 to 11; Saturday and Sunday, noon to midnight, Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, 275 N. Eighth St., Williamsburg, Brooklyn
INFO Free, 718-384-0223, olmcfeast.com
2. TARGET DESIGN KIDS FESTIVAL
WHAT Young fashion designers in the making should head over to the Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum. Take a fashion drawing workshop with a doll clothing designer or design your own buttons and bags with museum educators. Younger kids can play with blocks in the Rockwell Group's Imagination Playground in a Box.
WHEN | WHERE Saturday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, 2 E. 91st St.
INFO Free, 212-849-8353, cooperhewitt.org
3. SIREN MUSIC FESTIVAL
WHAT The Village Voice's annual Siren Music Festival returns for its 10th year on Coney Island. The outdoor fest includes performances by Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, Cymbals Eat Guitars, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Matt and Kim and more. Other activities include the "Atomic Wings" Wing-Eating Contest and Dead Heat DJ sets between band performances.
WHEN | WHERE Saturday, noon to 9 p.m. at Coney Island main stage, West 10th Street (off Surf Avenue) and Stillwell Stage, Stillwell Avenue (off Surf Avenue)
INFO Free, siren.villagevoice.com/2010
4. HAITI RELIEF CONCERT
WHAT See Haitian singer/songwriter Emeline Michel alongside Haitian and Cuban performers at the "Konbit Pou Ayiti: Harlem Stage Unites for Haiti" event in Harlem, celebrating Haitian culture through pan-Caribbean performances in music, dance, and spoken word, plus a tribute to Bengi Jolicoeur, a dancer lost in the Haiti earthquake. Chairs are not allowed on the field, so bring blankets.
WHEN | WHERE Saturday, 5 to 9p.m. (doors open 4 p.m.) at Bruce Paltrow Field at P.S. 161, 134th Street at Amsterdam Avenue
INFO Free, 212-281-9240, harlemstage.org
5. KIDS' DAY AT MIDSUMMER NIGHT SWING
WHAT Your kids may not know their right foot from their left, but they'll enjoy an afternoon learning the basics of ballroom, tango and swing dancing as part of Lincoln Center's Midsummer Night Swing. The special daytime dance session will be led by Pierre Dulaine, one of the dance teachers featured in the documentary "Mad Hot Ballroom."
WHEN | WHERE Saturday, 3 to 4:30 p.m. at Damrosch Park, West 62nd Street between Columbus and Amsterdam avenues.
INFO Free, 212-721-6500, lincolncenter.org
