You HAVE to check this out. Memorial Day weekend is when NYC quietly flips the switch from spring to summer, and this year the city is overflowing with free things to do. The country’s oldest Brooklyn Memorial Day Parade is celebrating its 159th edition, the largest Memorial Day parade in the nation steps off in Queens, the Lower East Side throws its 39th annual block party, and the city’s 14 miles of public beaches officially open Saturday morning. Here is your borough-by-borough guide to a free weekend in New York.
Don’t Miss: The 39th Annual Loisaida Festival (Sunday, May 24)
The Loisaida Festival returns to the Lower East Side on Sunday, May 24, from noon to 5 p.m., stretching down Avenue C (also known as Loisaida Avenue) from East 12th Street to East 5th Street. Held every year on the Sunday before Memorial Day, this is the LES’s largest Puerto Rican-heritage and Latinx neighborhood block party, and the 39th edition’s theme is Our AmeRícan Thing — a love letter to Loisaida not just as a neighborhood but as a language, a rhythm, and a way of belonging. Expect live music across multiple stages, street theater, poetry, food vendors, artisan markets, and the kind of cross-generational crowd that only happens in this corner of Manhattan. It is the unofficial start of summer below 14th Street, and it is completely free.
Manhattan: Beaches Open and the Bronx Memorial
The city’s 14 miles of public beaches officially open Saturday, May 23, with lifeguards on duty through September 13. That means Coney Island, Brighton Beach, Rockaway, Orchard Beach, South and Midland Beaches on Staten Island, and Manhattan Beach are all swimmable starting this weekend, free, with no reservations needed. Pack a towel and a sandwich, take the train, and welcome to beach season.
Brooklyn: The 159th Annual Memorial Day Parade (Monday, May 25)
Brooklyn’s Memorial Day Parade is one of the oldest parades in the country, and this year marks the 159th edition. Festivities kick off at 11 a.m. on Monday, May 25 from 78th Street and Third Avenue in Bay Ridge, then proceed down to Marine Avenue, up Fourth Avenue, and over to John Paul Jones Park for a memorial service that includes bagpipes, a flag raising, wreath laying by veteran service organizations, and a 21-gun salute by the Veteran Corps of Artillery. Free, family-friendly, and the kind of NYC tradition that does not show up in tourist guidebooks.
Bonus Brooklyn: Green-Wood Cemetery Memorial Day Concert (Monday, May 25)
Green-Wood Cemetery’s beloved Memorial Day concert returns for its 26th year on Monday, May 25, from 2 to 4 p.m. at 500 25th Street in Greenwood Heights. This year carries extra weight because it is kicking off the 250th anniversary of the United States. Admission is free with a $10 suggested donation, advance registration is required, and you can bring a blanket and picnic to spread out across the grounds. The setting alone is worth the trip — rolling hills, monuments, and live music in one of the most beautiful spots in Brooklyn.
Queens: The Largest Memorial Day Parade in America (Monday, May 25)
The Little Neck–Douglaston Memorial Day Parade is, by attendance, the largest Memorial Day parade in the nation. It steps off at 2 p.m. on Monday, May 25 from Jayson Avenue and Northern Boulevard. It is free, it is enormous, and it is one of those things every New Yorker should see at least once.
Earlier in the day, the Ridgewood Memorial Day Parade begins at Cypress Avenue in Ridgewood at 11 a.m. on Monday, May 25, bringing together local civic groups and community leaders to honor those who have fallen and ending with a short ceremony. If you live in Queens, there is no reason not to walk over.
Bonus Queens: Sunnyside Gardens Park Spring Festival (Saturday, May 23)
Sunnyside Gardens Park is hosting a free community event on Saturday, May 23 from noon to 5 p.m. with live music, rides for kids, BBQ, beer and wine, and face painting. It is one of those neighborhood gatherings that locals know about and the rest of the city does not, which is exactly why it is great.
The Bronx and Manhattan: Forest Hills & College Point Parades (Sunday, May 24)
Both Forest Hills and College Point in Queens hold their parades on Sunday, May 24 — free, family-friendly, and walkable from the train. Check the route maps before you head out, but these are smaller, neighborhood-scale events that have the kind of warmth the big parades cannot match.
Staten Island: Philharmonic Memorial Day Concert (Sunday, May 24)
The Staten Island Philharmonic performs a free Memorial Day concert on Sunday, May 24 from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Conference House, honoring military service and sacrifice. The Conference House grounds are gorgeous in late May, the program is family-friendly, and Staten Island is criminally underrated for a slow Sunday afternoon. Take the ferry, transfer to the bus, and treat it like a mini-vacation.
How to Plan Your Weekend
Saturday is beach day — the season officially opens, lifeguards are on duty, and the city’s free swimming infrastructure is ready. Sunday belongs to the Lower East Side for the Loisaida Festival, with a Staten Island Philharmonic detour if you want to escape Manhattan. Monday is parade day — pick Brooklyn for tradition, Queens for scale, or Green-Wood for the most contemplative version of the holiday. You can easily string two or three of these together for a single free weekend.
Memorial Day weekend in NYC has a way of feeling like the real start of the year. Get out there.
