Celebrate summer solstice at Old Westbury Garden's Midsummer Nights
Old Westbury Gardens will host the Midsummer Nights event, where visitors can celebrate the longest day of the year. Credit: Old Westbury Gardens
Strolling through the grounds of the historic Old Westbury Gardens can be a great escape. For the first time in nearly a decade, the estate is bringing back its Midsummer Nights event, a rare opportunity where patrons can roam at night in celebration of the summer solstice on June 21, the longest day of the year.
On the evenings of June 23-24, statues and other facets of the gardens will be decorated with lanterns, wreaths and floral arrangements, with live music playing in various spots on the grounds. Attendees will have the chance to taken in the garden roses and banks of Sweet William.
“This is a magical time of the year where summer is just beginning, kids are getting out of school and all of the work our team puts into the gardens throughout the year shows up now during this high point of our garden’s season," says Maura Brush, interim director and director of horticulture of Old Westbury Gardens. “This event is a celebration of nostalgia, of timeless moments and simpler times." Brush encourages visitors to come and "have a picnic on the grounds, catch fireflies with your kids and celebrate that particular light that exists only at this time of year and at this time of day," she says.
Dorothy Stanford, 40, of Forest Hills, who has previously attended, will be returning this weekend with her family.
MIDSUMMER NIGHTS AT OLD WESTBURY GARDENS
WHEN | WHERE 6:30 to 10:30 p.m. June 23-24; 71 Old Westbury Rd, Old Westbury
COST $20 ($16 for members), $8 for kids ages 7-17 ($6 for members), Free for kids 6 and under
“When I visited this event for the first time I thought it was absolutely magical. Now, 12 years later, I have two daughters ages 3 and 5. My husband and I can't wait to see the magic of the event through their eyes,” Stanford says. The last Midsummer Nights event took place at the gardens in 2015.
Guests can bring their own dinner or buy food and drinks on site at the Café in the Woods, which is operated by Polka Dot Poundcake of Rockville Centre. Some items that can be purchased include sandwiches, salads, wraps, baked goods and coffee, tea and juice. The event will also feature lawn games and crafts for kids.
The weekend's sold-out Midsummer Jazz event on June 22 at 7 p.m. will showcase jazz standards and original compositions performed by musician and composer Glafkos Kontemeniotis and his trio, Monk for President, along with Vince "Kazi" McCoy on drums and Fred Berman on double bass.
