Bryant Park Family Day FREE on August 10 at Bryant Park Picnic Performances

Bryant Park Family Day. Photo: Ryan Muir

Bryant Park’s First-ever Family Day Offers Full Day of Activities https://bryantpark.org/calendar/event/family-day/2024-08-10

Culminating withPicnic Performances from Ephrat Asherie Dance and Barkin/Selissen Project, in Collaboration with New Victory Theater

First-Come, First-Served Entry

All Bryant Park Picnic Performances Are FREE

Bryant Park‘s summer of season of free activities continues with the first-ever Bryant Park Family Day on Saturday, August 10. From 10am to 6pm, kids and families can find a wide range of activities. Explore circus on the Upper Terrace; watch stilt-walking, be entranced by Francis Stallings’ hula hooping, and learn to juggle with the Bryant Park Jugglers. Sing and make music at the Reading Room during Camp Kids and with special guests Bash the Trash. Drop by Kids Creative Corner to try your hand at science experiments, bubble blowing, and more! Don’t forget to visit the other park amenities, including Le Carrousel and the Art Cart, which will host crafts and workshops throughout the day. The finale of Family Day features a Picnic Performance from renowned dance companies Ephrat Asherie Dance and Barkin/Selissen Project, in collaboration with New Victory Theater, as well as interactive moments for younger audiences.  

Attendees may bring their own food or purchase from on-site food and beverage vendors near the lawn. At all performances, attendees can discover new dishes and celebrate classics from the five boroughs with a rotating line-up of artisanal vendors by Hester Street Fair. Stout NYC offers light bites as well as a selection of beer, wine, and non-alcoholic beverages for purchase.

For the most current performance information please visit bryantpark.org/picnics.

Performance Details

Saturday, August 10, 10am – 6pm

Bryant Park Family Day

Time	Activity Name	Location
10am – 5pm	Play + Make	Kids Creative Corner
11am – 7pm	Drop-in Crafts	Art Cart
10am – 11am	Moves with Limón Dance	Lawn
10am – 12pm	Drop-in Science Experiments	Kids Stage
11am – 12pm	Mocko Jumbie Stilt Walkers	Upper Terrace
12pm – 1:15pm	Bubble Man	Kids Creative Corner
12pm – 1:30pm	Camp Kids: Funkytown Playground Band Followed by Arts + Crafts with Kelsey Craftz	Reading Room
1pm – 3pm	Bubble Wrap Printmaking	Art Cart
2pm – 3:30pm	Bash the Trash: Music, Instrument-Making, Parade	Reading Room
2:30pm – 4:30pm	Face Painting	Eastern Lawn Gravel
3pm – 4:30pm	Hula Hoop with Francis Stallings	Upper Terrace
5pm – 6pm	Picnic Performance with New Victory Theater: Ephrat Asherie Dance + Barkin/Selissen Project	Main Stage + Lawn

Moves with Limón Dance

10am – 11am

NE Corner of the Lawn

Move to live accompaniment and experience the joy of dance with dancers from the Limón Dance Company. This all-ages class is sure to get everyone in the family on their feet and moving. 

Drop-in Science Experiments

10am – 12pm

Kids Stage

Crazy Science Show for Kids returns to the park, bringing their laboratory of interactive experiments for kids to engage with. Make warm snow, breathe like a dragon, and test a super-charged science soda.

Mocko Jumbie Stilt Walkers

11am – 12pm

Upper Terrace

Bubble Man

12pm – 1:15pm

Kids Stage

We’ve all blown soap bubbles before. But have you ever seen someone create a bubble big enough to stand inside? Or one long enough to jump over? Open your eyes to the magical world of bubbles.

Camp Kids: Funkytown Playground Band followed by Arts + Crafts with Kelsey Craftz

12pm – 1:30pm

Reading Room

Funkytown Playground is an integrated, educational, music, movement and yoga program designed for kids. Teaching artists perform interactive songs designed to educate by utilizing melodies that are catchy and fun. Each session delivers an extremely high level of enthusiasm and energy, which is contagious! After the show, kids can get creative and make something new with Kelsey Craftz.

Bubble Wrap Printmaking

1pm – 3pm

Art Cart

Experiment with bubble wrap to create of variety of ways to make unique prints using just bubble wrap and acrylic paint.

Bash the Trash: Music, Instrument-Making, Parade

2pm – 3:30pm

Reading Room

Using wacky and wonderful instruments made from repurposed materials, Bash the Trash show how science can transform even the simplest stuff into cool-sounding music. Craft your own instrument from our recyclables then join the band for a short parade, all while helping to keep Bryant Park (and the Earth!) clean and green!

Hula Hoop with Francis Stallings

3pm – 4:30pm

Upper Terrace

Watch an entrancing hula hoop performance, then grab a hoop of your own and join in on the fun. With a proficiency in aerial arts, acting, hula hooping and costume design, Francis Stallings has taken many unforgettable journeys performing in theater, circus, nightlife, cruise ships, pirate ships, amusement parks, festivals, small shows, big shows, and traveling shows at home and abroad! Francis is always ready for a new experience and adventure! When not working she enjoys traveling the world and scuba diving. Originally from Atlanta, Francis is based between Brooklyn and Vegas. 

Art Cart Workshop

3:30pm – 4:30pm

Art Cart

Picnic Performance with New Victory Theater: Ephrat Asherie Dance + Barkin/Selissen Project

5pm – 6pm

Main Stage + Lawn

The finale of Bryant Park’s first-ever Family Day features dance performances by renowned dance companies Ephrat Asherie Dance and Barkin/Selissen Project as well as fun, interactive moments specifically chosen for younger audiences. The performances are curated by New Victory Theater, as part of their summer series New Victory Dance, a program for New York City-based dance companies hosted by New Victory Teaching Artists.

Ephrat Asherie Dance (EAD) is a dance company rooted in African-American and Latino street and social dances. Dedicated to revealing the inherent complexities of these forms, EAD explores the expansive narrative qualities of various street and club styles – including breaking, hip-hop, house and vogue – as a means to tell stories, develop innovative imagery, and find new modes of expression. EAD’s first evening-length work, A Single Ride, earned two Bessie nominations in 2013 for Outstanding Emerging Choreographer and Outstanding Sound Design by Marty Beller. The company has presented work at The Apollo Theater, Celebrity Series, Columbia College, Dixon Place, FiraTarrega, Guggenheim Works & Process, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, La MaMa, River to River Festival, Mass MoCA, and New York Live Arts, among others.

Barkin/Selissen Project, a New York City-based contemporary dance company founded in 2009, presents the choreography of Artistic Directors Kyla Barkin and Aaron Selissen through live performance, film and workshops. The company strives to blur lines between the emotional and intellectual, dream worlds and waking states. With dramatic shifts from nuance to explosive athleticism, Barkin and Selissen’s choreography infuses fresh perspective on subjects ranging from the complexities of mathematics to the complexities of human nature. Barkin/Selissen Project has been presented at venues across the U.S and abroad including Jacob’s Pillow Inside/Out, SUNY Stony Brook’s Staller Center, Jazz at Lincoln Center, West End Theater, 92Y, Bryant Park, and more. Partnerships for workshops include Sally Taylor’s ConSenses, Festival of the Moving Body, Communicating in Partnerships through Dance/Hartford Performs, Balance 1 Academy Berlin, Limón Professional Studies Program, and more. With a similar approach to teaching and training, the company promotes the coupling of techniques and modalities to prepare artists’ bodies for the challenges of the work. By creating a mindful and inspiring environment, B/S P provides a vibrant platform for artistic growth and refinement.

Upcoming Bryant Park Picnic Performances

Line Listings

August

August 02: Carnegie Hall Citywide – La Excelencia

August 09: Joe’s Pub – Broadway en Spanglish: Florencia Cuenca and Jaime Lozano

August 10: New Victory Theater – Ephrat Asherie Dance + Barkin/Selissen Project

August 16: World Music Institute – Natu Camara, Samir LanGus

August 17: Jalopy Theatre – Cristina Vane, Slavic Soul Party!, Guachinangos

August 23: New York City Opera – Tosca

August 24: New York City Opera – Tosca

August 30: Asian American Arts Alliance – Vijay Iyer Trio

August 31: Contemporary Dance – Mark Morris Dance Group, Blacks in Ballet, Reed Luplau

September

September 05: Accordions Around the World – Dwayne Dopsie and the Zydeco Hellraisers, Afro Dominicano, Lakou Mizik

September 06: American Symphony Orchestra – Beyond the Hall

September 12: Harlem Stage – Eddie Palmieri Salsa Orchestra

September 13: The Town Hall + Belongó – The Man with The Golden Horn

Follow Bryant Park

Website: https://bryantpark.org

Twitter: @bryantparknyc

Instagram: @bryantparknyc

Facebook: facebook.com/BryantParkNYC

YouTube: youtube.com/BryantParkNYC

Location and Subway Directions:

Bryant Park is situated behind the New York Public Library in midtown Manhattan, between 40th and 42nd Streets and Fifth and Sixth Avenues. Take the B, D, F, or M train to 42nd Street/Bryant Park; or, take the 7 train to 5th Avenue.