Staying in Brooklyn during midwinter break? Check out the Sword Dance Festival, more Lunar New Year celebrations, Black History Month events, the new food museum and more kid-friendly events. For our big overview of all drop-in indoor fun in Brooklyn, click here.
New York Sword Dance Festival at the Brooklyn Heights Library
Saturday, February 17 | 1.30 pm | Free
Bring the family for an exciting mid-winter celebration all the way from the heart of England! The 38th annual New York Sword Dance Festival features dances based on customs from the farming and coal-mining regions of northern England, where the annual visit of the local sword dancers to the village homes was thought to guarantee good luck for the year. The Festival will feature both mystical, stately long sword and vigorous rapper sword dancing, with live music on fiddle, accordion, and other instruments. In both types of sword dance, the dancers are linked in a ring by the “swords” they hold in their hands while they work as a team to weave intricate figures and patterns without breaking the circle. The dances are thought to have roots in ancient rituals, traces of which can still be seen in these present-day displays of skill.
Lunar New Year at the Seaport
Saturday, February 17, 2024 | Free
The Seaport is partnering with the New York Chinese Cultural Center and the South Street Seaport Museum for a day full of fun Lunar New Year festivities. Activities will take place throughout the day and include live lion dance performances, calligraphy, arts & crafts. Lion dances at 1-1:25 pm, 1:40-2:05 pm and 2:20-2:45 pm. Photos: Mike Szpot
Drop-In Workshops for Artland Installation at Brooklyn Museum
Saturdays, February 17, 24 | 1–3 pm | $20 museum admission, free for kids 0-19
Take a trip to Artland: An Installation by Do Ho Suh and Children, an enchanting ecosystem of color and clay which opened January 27, and discover how to create your own world. In these free, all-ages drop-in workshops, you’ll draw inspiration from the real world to imagine a new one. Artland is a fantastical ecosystem dreamed up in 2016 by artist Do Ho Suh (born Seoul, South Korea, 1962) and his two young daughters. This ever-growing and evolving series of islands is inhabited by characters and landscapes sculpted from nontoxic clay.
Free story times
Storytime w/ Janelle Harper: My Block Looks Like
Saturday, February 17th | 11 – 11:30am | Books Are Magic Montague Street
Saturday, February 17th | 11 am | Greenlight Bookstore
Celebrate Black History Month
Saturday, February 17th | 12 pm to 3:30 pm | FREE
Join Atlantic Terminal as they honor Black History Month with a free movie screening of Spider-Verse with Rooftop Films on the lower level (near DSW) at Atlantic Terminal Mall. Brooklyn Book Bodega will host a special book giveaway with themes surrounding Black History Month.
Black Future Festival at Brooklyn Children’s Museum in Crown Heights
Sunday, February 18 – Sunday, February 25 | 10 am to 5 pm | $15 museum admission
Join Brooklyn Children’s Museum for a week of reflection and future-forward fun inspired by the national celebration of the African Diaspora and Black History Month. Guest curator, Kendra J. Bostock and STooPS, present workshops, dance performances, storytelling, and more.
Kids Create: Black History Heroes at the Walt Whitman Library
Tuesday, February 20th | 3 – 3.45 pm | Free
Join Miss Anna for a fun arts & crafts project. Kids Create is open for children of all ages, but children 5 and under must be accompanied by an adult.
Storytime All About Alma Thomas at Adams Street Library in DUMBO
Tuesday, February 20th | 4 – 5 pm | Free
Come listen to a story and do a corresponding craft! This week we’ll be celebrating Black History month by learning all about artist and teacher, Alma Thomas. We will read Ablaze with Color: A Story of Painter Alma Thomas and then kids can make their own creations inspired by Alma’s art! Best for ages 3 and up.
Jack and Friends Black History Month Series: Lavender Blues Performance at Park Slope Library
Wednesday, February 21 and 28 | 4 pm to 4:45 pm | FREE with registration
Join Brooklyn Public Library for their Jack and Friends program celebrating Black History Month series with Lavender Blues! Their high energy performance for babies and toddlers includes songs from their REMIXED to a new cadence and bonus beat! Think Baby Hip Hop! Sing, dance and play with Lavender Blues at BPL!
Lunar New Year celebration at Atlantic Terminal
Tuesday, February 20th | 3-5PM | Free
Celebrate the joy and traditions of the Lunar New Year with a dazzling event at Atlantic Terminal Mall. Immerse yourself in the rich tapestry of Chinese culture through captivating traditional Chinese dances and mesmerizing performances by the New York Chinese Cultural Center!
Museum of Food & Drink in DUMBO
Wednesdays – Sundays | 12 – 5 pm | $0-$15
New in DUMBO with the opening exhibition, Flavor: The World to Your Brain which is a sensory journey through our bodies and our world, designed and curated by food scientists and culinary anthropologists. Best for ages 7 and up the interactive exhibit offers various elements for children to experience tastes in unusual ways, create their own “banana, popcorn, vomit” smell at the smell synthesizer, see live what happens in their brain when eating something spicy and brainstorm about their very own childhood comfort food.
Ice skating in Brooklyn Bridge Park, Prospect Park and other locations
Various locations | Daily
Check out our overview of ice skating locations in Brooklyn here. Some rinks close March 1.
