Memorial Day weekend has arrived and for those staying in New York City to celebrate, there are plenty of ways to keep busy. Below you’ll find a down-and-dirty list of our picks for the weekend. Included in the mix are a party by the beach, a frank conversation about drugs, a rooftop bash, a documentary on Woodstock, free kayaking and more. Fingers-crossed the weather cooperates this year.

Saturday, May 25
FOOD: Hester Street Fair’s Lobster and Beer
Hester Street Fair brings back this fan favorite. The lobster is served up courtesy of Claw Daddy’s, DownEast Lobstah, Oyster Party, Lobster Joint, and Angry Archies, while Hokkaido Brewing supplies the suds.
Hester Street Fair, Hester & Essex Streets
11am-6pm
Pay as you go, RSVP

MUSIC: Major Taylor & DJ Set by DJ Screaming Horses
Head to Rockaway for a party on the boardwalk at Rippers. DJ Screaming Horses has promised an all-vinyl DJ set and “original Brooklyn music group” Major Taylor does a live set.
Rippers, on the Boardwalk at Beach 86th Street, Rockaway, Queens
5pm
Free

TALK: Drug Test: Ambien
Psychonaut Hamilton Morris and neuroscientist Heather Berlin talk about your brain on Ambien with host Sarah Rose Siskind.
Caveat, 21A Clinton Street, New York, NY 10002
6:30pm-8:30pm
$15

PARTY: Locals Surf School Memorial Day Weekend Party
Tacoway Beach cocktails, beer, tacos & live music by DJ Tony Williams & Fernandito Ferrer.
Rockaway Beach Surf Club, 302 Beach 87th Street Rockaway Beach. New York. 11693
7pm
Free

MUSIC: The So So Glos with BODEGA, Emmerson & Her Clammy Hands, Baglady
Brooklyn-born punk rockers The So So Glos headline this special show which is part of the Mercury Lounge’s 25-year anniversary celebration.
Mercury Lounge, 217 East Houston St., New York, NY 10002
7pm
$19

COMEDY: Eddie Izzard – Wunderbar
Eddie goes back to his roots with this all-new show that finds him expounding his views on life, love, history and more.
Beacon Theater, 2124 Broadway, New York, NY 10023
8pm
$61+

FILM: Rooftop Films: Running with Beto
Winner of the Audience Award at the SXSW film festival, Running with Beto follows Beto O’Rourke during his U.S. Senate race against Ted Cruz. Brooklyn band Las Rosas open the night and following the screening, the film’s director David Modigliani and producer Rebecca Feferman do a Q&A.
New Design High School, 350 Grand St., New York, NY 10002
7:30pm
$16

Sunday, May 26
PARTY: Tiki Disco Memorial Day Weekend
Join Tiki Disco as they kick off their 10th anniversary season with special guest DJ mOma (Everyday People).
The Well, 272 Meserole Street, Brooklyn, NY
2pm-10pm
$10

PARTY: Mister Sunday Memorial Day Weekend Special
Residents Justin Carter & Eamon Harkin bring the dance vibes.
Nowadays, 56-06 Cooper Ave Flushing, NY 11385
3pm-9pm
$15 and up

PARTY: Jonathan Toubin’s NYNT Sunday Soul Scream with Gnarcissists & Animal Show
Time to let loose! Jonathan Toubin launches the 4th season of NYNT’s weekly Sunday night rooftop party with a punk rock lineup that includes Gnarcissists and Animal Show, followed by the master of ceremonies spinning a 45rpm-vinyl set of 60s soul.
Our Wicked Lady, 153 Morgan Ave. Brooklyn, NY
8pm-4am
$5 suggested donation

PARTY: Mark Ernestus & RB of DK Records
If some minimalist techno is what you seek this Memorial Day Weekend, head to Public Records, a new venue in Gowanus, for this chill, late-night dance party. Mark Ernestus, the founder of the legendary Hard Wax record store in Berlin, lays out beats to get your groove on.
Public Records, 233 Butler Street, Brooklyn, NY 11217
Doors at 10pm
$22

Monday, May 27
SPORTS: Kayaking & Canoeing: Memorial Day Paddle
LIC Community Boathouse organizes this free paddle. Equipment provided. First come, first served.
Hallets Cove at Socrates Sculpture Park, enter at 31-10 Vernon Blvd
1pm-4pm
Free

PARTY: New Myths Memorial Day DJ Party
New York power trio New Myths curate the tunes at this daytime dance party at Jacob Riis Beach Bathhouse. Also on the menu: beach, food & other merchant vendors.
Jacob Riis Beach Bathhouse, 157 Rockaway Beach Blvd, Rockaway Park NY, 11694
12pm-6pm
Free

MUSIC: Green-Wood Cemetery Memorial Day Concert
Now in its 21st year, the 2019 Green-Wood Cemetery’s Memorial Day Concert features The New York City Symphonic Band performing music by some of the cemetery’s permanent residents.
Green-Wood Cemetery, 500 25th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11232
2:30pm – 5pm
Free

PARTY: Memorial Day Party
Eli Escobar and the Duchess supply the tunes for House of Yes’s 4th annual Memorial Day party. Expect “hot meat, dirty dancing, and delicious chillness.”
House of Yes, 2 Wyckoff Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11237
3pm-12am
Free before 6pm with RSVP, $10 for priority entry all day

MUSIC: New York Philharmonic Annual Free Memorial Day Concert
This year’s concert features Bruckner’s Eighth.
The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, 1047 Amsterdam Avenue at 112th Street, New York, NY 10025
7pm
Free tickets to be distributed starting at 5pm

COMEDY: Gravid Water
See what happens when improvisers team up with actors when the actors know the lines to the scene and the improviser has no clue what’s going on. The cast for the Memorial Day edition includes Scott Adsit, Tami Sagher, Brian Stack, Alvin Crawford and more.
UCB Theater, 555 W 42nd Street New York, NY 10036
7:30pm
$9

All Weekend
FILM: Diamantino
Diamantino is totally out there but in the best way possible. Co-directed by Gabriel Abrantes and Daniel Schmidt, the film, which opened the 56th New York Film Festival Projection’s program and took home the top prize at the 2018 Cannes Critics’ Week, is a rollicking satire that takes on such topics as Brexit, the refugee crisis, and genetic modification. The film stars Carloto Cotta (Tabu) as Diamantino, an air-headed, Forest Gump-like Portuguese football star. After missing a big goal, Diamantino decides to leave his career behind and seek a new path. What ensues is a surprise-laden comic adventure. And, we can’t forget to plug the giant fluffy Pekingese puppies. Watching them running around is worth the cost of admission alone. Raúl de Nieves will moderate a Q&A with co-director Daniel Schmidt following the 1pm screening on Saturday, May 25.
Metrograph, 7 Ludlow Street, New York, NY
Various times throughout the weekend
$15

FILM: Woodstock: Three Days That Defined a Generation
2019 is becoming a portal back to 1969. All the hullabaloo around commemorating Woodstock is a case in point. There’s an on-again-off-again-on-again 50th anniversary festival in the works, and a captivating new documentary by Barak Goodman arriving in select theaters this weekend. Woodstock: Three Days That Defined a Generation is not a concert film, rather it tells the background story of the epic event from the perspective of the organizers, performers and festival goers, who narrate over archival footage. Sure, the story has been told before, but Goodman’s narrative has 50 years of distance baked in. The high of the event has subsided and new insights can be drawn. Journalist Joe McGovern will be moderating a Q&A with Barak Goodman and author Bob Spitz after the 5pm screening on Saturday, May 25.
Quad Cinema, 34 W. 13th Street, New York, NY 10011
Various times
$16

ART: Artistic License: Six Takes on the Guggenheim Collection
Recently opened, Artistic License: Six Takes on the Guggenheim Collection is the first artist-curated show organized by the museum. The Guggenheim invited six artists, all of whom have had shows at the museum in the past, to dig through the collection and design an exhibit on a topic of their choosing. The artist-curators include Jenny Holzer, Richard Prince, Paul Chan, Cai Guo-Qiang, Carrie Mae Weems and Julie Mehretu. The presentations are thoughtful and reinvigorate artworks from the collection.
Guggenheim, 1071 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY
$25, Pay what you wish on Saturday 5pm-8pm

Image above from Woodstock: Three Days That Defined a Generation courtesy of PBS Distribution