48th Annual Museum Mile Festival Returns June 9

Photo Courtesy of El Museo del Barrio

Free Activities and Access to Participating Museums

Over 20 museums and several neighborhood partners are once again coming together for the 48th annual Museum Mile Festival, New York City’s biggest block party, which will take place, rain or shine, on Tuesday, June 9, from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m.

Festival attendees can walk Museum Mile along Fifth Avenue from 82nd Street to 110th Street, enjoying free admission at participating museums that are open during the event, and experiencing a wide range of outdoor programming, performances, and activities presented by some of New York City’s leading cultural institutions.

The museums participating in this long-standing collaboration are: The Metropolitan Museum of Art; Neue Galerie New York; Guggenheim New York; Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum; The Jewish Museum; Museum of the City of New York; El Museo del Barrio; the Museum of Modern Art, and The Africa Center.

The Church of the Heavenly Rest, the New York Academy of Medicine, Asia Society, AKC Museum of the Dog, the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, the New York City Civic Engagement Commission’s People’s Bus, Villa Albertine, the French Institute for Culture and Education, and 92NY will also participate in the festival as neighborhood partners.

The Museum Mile Festival’s opening ceremony takes place at 5:45 p.m. at El Museo del Barrio (1230 Fifth Avenue). Audiences can join the festivities using #MuseumMileFestival on Instagram, Facebook, Threads, and X throughout the evening.

Highlights of events and offerings presented by the museum partners:

The Metropolitan Museum of Art (82nd Street)

The Met invites Museum Mile Festival visitors of all ages to enjoy an evening of exploration, creativity, and discovery—with expanded access to galleries and exhibitions, including The Genesis Facade Commission: Jeffrey Gibson (leaving June 9th, 2026), Raphael: Sublime Poetry, Musical Bodies and Costume Art, with additional exhibitions to be announced.

Neue Galerie New York (86th Street)

Neue Galerie New York invites Museum Mile Festival guests to join us at a pop-up table located in front of the museum to explore the architecture and history of our landmark home, 1048 Fifth Avenue, and our collections of Austrian and German art and design.

Please note that the Neue Galerie will not be open to visitors during the festival, as the museum is closed for the summer beginning on May 27, 2026. This autumn marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the museum’s founding, and the galleries will reopen to the public with the “25th Anniversary Exhibition,” which debuts in Autumn 2026. The longevity of the Neue Galerie’s historic home depends on careful, loving, ongoing upkeep. The Neue Galerie has been engaged in a multi-phased process to enhance the building and fortify it for the next chapter.

Guggenheim New York (89th Street)

Guggenheim New York invites Museum Mile Festival visitors of all ages to share an evening inside and outside the museum with activities that encourage you to play, pause, and connect. As extensions of the creativity and community spirit found inside the iconic spiral museum, current exhibitions Carol Bove and Guggenheim Pop: 1960 to Now will be on view and open to explore.

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum (91st Street)

Cooper Hewitt will activate the museum’s garden with dancing, DJs, and music played on the Karlala Soundsystem—a hot pink speaker system designed and engineered by Karl Scholz. Enjoy music by Cesar Toribio and Mickey Pérez of Public Service. Inside the museum, explore exhibitions including Art of Noise, Devon Turnbull: HiFi Pursuit Listening Room Dream No. 3, and Made in America: The Industrial Photography of Christopher Payne.

The Jewish Museum (92nd Street)

The Jewish Museum presents the exhibitions Paul Klee: Other Possible Worlds and Identity, Culture and Community: Stories from the Collection of the Jewish Museum, which includes Circa 1776: Jews in Colonial America in celebration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Outside on Fifth Avenue, Gili Yalo, whose music combines his Ethiopian roots with Soul, Funk, Psychedelic, and Jazz music, will perform multiple live sets, presented as part of an ongoing collaboration with Bang on a Can. A family art activity will be offered, inspired by works in the Paul Klee exhibition.

Museum of the City of New York (103rd-104th Streets)

The Museum will be open for visitors of all ages to explore our exhibitions and New York City’s art, history, pop culture, and civic life. Don’t miss the chance to see our newest exhibitions including He Built This City: Joe Macken’s Model, The Occupied City: New York and the American Revolution (opens May 1), and Another Wonderland: Abram Champanier’s Alice Mural (opens June 6).

El Museo del Barrio (104-105th Streets)

Tuesday, June 9 | 6:00 – 9:00 PM | Free

Register here

El Museo del Barrio is proud to host the 48th Annual Museum Mile Festival, New York City’s largest block party, transforming Museum Mile into a vibrant Puerto Rican block party inspired by its current exhibitions, Jangueando: Recent Acquisitions, 2021–2025 and Sophie Rivera: Double Exposures. Rooted in art, dance, and Nuyorican life, this outdoor celebration invites everyone to move, create, and janguear. Enjoy live music by Lulada Club (@luladaclub), New York City’s all-women salsa orchestra, in collaboration with the Carnegie Hall Citywide Concert Series, DJs, dance activations, free guided tours, and hands-on art-making for all ages as we bring the rhythm of El Barrio to Fifth Avenue. Joining the lineup, DJ Bembona (@djbembona), a Puerto Rican-Panamanian artist, brings her signature Afro-diasporic and community-centered sound, creating an energetic and empowering space for collective celebration and connection.

The Africa Center (110th Street)

The Africa Center is delighted to join our neighbors for the 48th Annual Museum Mile Festival. Our doors will be open to the public throughout the celebration and admission is free to all. Visitors of all ages will have the opportunity to explore Resistance in Memory: Visions of Sudan, The Africa Center’s acclaimed group exhibition of photographs by 12 emerging Sudanese artists, and partake in top quality coffee, teas, and baked goods in our new sit-down cafe in partnership with specialty coffee brand Coffee Uplifts People (CUP).

Highlights of events and offerings presented by neighborhood partners:

92NY (91st or 92nd Street)

The 92nd Street Y, New York (92NY), is excited to join Museum Mile—stop by to meet our programmers and learn about membership, classes, events, and more. Grab some 92NY swag—and even make a bracelet! A cultural and community center for over 150 years, 92NY connects people through arts, culture, and conversation. Rooted in Jewish values and open to all, we inspire learning, creativity, and connection.

AKC Museum of the Dog (40th Street)

Please note: The AKC Museum of the Dog will be closed during this time and is not located on 5th Ave. Join us at our table on 91st Street. The AKC Museum of the Dog is wagging our tails in anticipation of 2026’s Museum Mile Festival! Meet some of our team members and learn more about our classes and programs–some of which you can do with your dog. We will have family friendly crafts and activities available. Come sniff us out on 5th Ave. and 91st St.!

Asia Society (70th Street)

Asia Society is delighted to be a neighborhood partner of the Museum Mile Festival in 2026. We look forward to introducing our summer slate of programming, including film screenings, lectures, happy hours, and more at the festival; facilitating family-friendly activities, and meeting everyone from the neighborhood and beyond during Museum Mile 2026!

Church of the Heavenly Rest (90th Street)

The Church of the Heavenly Rest (CHR) is proud to participate in the Museum Mile Festival for another year! All are welcome at CHR and we are excited to be with the neighborhood as we celebrate our theme, Joy in Diversity. Our community is made stronger through the coming together of our various cultures, traditions, and perspectives. There will be activities for the whole family including a photo booth, scavenger hunts with prizes, music, and more.

The Institute for the Study of the Ancient World (84th Street)

What makes a city and how does it come to life? Find out through helping us build an ancient city at the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World as part of our experimental art project From the Ground Up . You can stop by our pop-up stall on the corner of 5th Avenue and 84th street to decorate your own ancient house and then walk over to our gallery, where together we’ll be drawing and collaging an ever-growing city. Bring the family to build from the ground up and learn more from our community of archaeologists and art historians!

New York City Civic Engagement Commission People’s Bus

Visit The People’s Bus to cast your vote in The People’s Money – New York City’s annual citywide participatory budgeting process. All New Yorkers ages 11+ can decide how to spend $4 million of the city budget! Choose local programs you want to see implemented in your neighborhood. Dance with our giant puppets Civic & Engagement to celebrate this exciting initiative! Learn more about the process at https://www.participate.nyc.gov/.

Museum of Modern Art (53rd Street)

Please note: The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) will be closed during this time. Join us instead at our Museum Mile table. Visit a MoMA pop-up on Museum Mile and explore highlights from current exhibitions, learn more about free programs taking place throughout the year, pick up a family-friendly activity guide to explore sounds across the city, and enjoy hands-on art-making activities for all ages inspired by artworks in MoMA’s collection. Villa Albertine, the French Institute for Culture and Education (79th Street) Villa Albertine, is delighted to participate in its first Museum Mile Festival. To celebrate, its bookstore, Albertine, will be open to the public on Tuesday, June 9 with extended hours from 6- 9pm. Come inside to browse books in French and English translation, to admire our constellation-inspired ceiling, or simply for a quiet break from the street. We will also host a family-friendly live reading from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s beloved classic, The Little Prince, starting at 5pm in the adjoining Florence Gould Garden. Copies of the book will be available for purchase inside the store and visitors of all ages will receive a 15 percent discount for purchases made during the evening.

About Museum Mile

Museum Mile received its name because of the cultural diversity and vast richness of the museums located on the stretch of 5th Avenue on the Upper East Side from 110th Street to 82nd Street. Since its inception, upwards of two million visitors have come from all over the country to take part in this annual celebration. The Museum Mile Festival was established in 1978 to increase public awareness of its member institutions, promote public support of the arts, and bring communities together.