September is the month Brooklyn takes to the streets. It opens with Carnival — the Junior Carnival in Crown Heights on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend — and closes with the Atlantic Antic in Boerum Hill, the borough’s biggest street festival. In between, families can look forward to our car-free back-to-school party on Montague Street in Brooklyn Heights, a Bus Festival and a Touch A Truck, FAMChella street festival on Fifth in Bay Ridge, Children’s Day at the Brooklyn Book Festival, the 60th Bay Ridge Ragamuffin Parade, and Sneaker Con in Coney Island. And the best part: almost all of it is free!
1. Junior Carnival | Crown Heights
Saturday, September 5 | assembles 9am at St. John’s Place and Kingston Avenue | Free to watch
The children’s day of West Indian American Day Carnival, and the one built entirely around kids — masqueraders up to age 17 parade in costume from Crown Heights to the Brooklyn Museum at 200 Eastern Parkway. It is an early start and a long route, so bring a stroller and water. Monday’s adult parade on Eastern Parkway is a completely different scale of crowd. Details from WIADCA.
2. Back to School Party on Car-Free Montague Street | Brooklyn Heights
Sunday, September 13 | 12–4pm | Montague Street, Clinton to Hicks | FREE
Our own party, for ages 0–12: an obstacle course, arts and crafts, games and building activities on a closed street. It opens Montague’s seven-Sunday car-free run, which continues through October 25. RSVP is free.
3. Movies With A View: How to Train Your Dragon | Brooklyn Bridge Park
Friday, September 18 | lawn opens 6pm, film at sunset | Pier 1 Harbor View Lawn | FREE
The season closer, and the series’ first dedicated family film night — PG, 93 minutes, with the skyline behind the screen. First come, first served, with one-in-one-out once the lawn is full. Lawn chairs and dogs are not allowed; blankets and small cushions are. Bring a picnic. Park listing.
4. Bus Festival | Brooklyn Bridge Park
Saturday, September 19 | 10am–3:30pm | Emily Warren Roebling Plaza | FREE
The New York Transit Museum parks a fleet of vintage buses on the waterfront and lets children climb aboard all of them, including a 1931 enclosed double-decker and the first air-conditioned bus in the United States. Note it is in the park, not at the museum. Rain or shine, no ticket needed, and there is a social narrative PDF on the museum’s site for sensory-sensitive kids. Register for the raffle.
5. Touch A Truck | Clinton Hill
Saturday, September 19 | 10am–2pm | Clinton Avenue between Myrtle and Willoughby | FREE
Fire trucks, ambulances, buses and city vehicles, with kids in the driver’s seat and permission to honk. Music, giveaways and activities alongside. The vehicle list goes up closer to the date. Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn Partnership.
6. FAMChella on Fifth | Bay Ridge
Saturday, September 19 | 3–6pm | 5th Avenue, 68th to 81st Street | FREE
Thirteen car-free blocks turned into a family block party — dance party, bouncy house, arts and crafts, water play, games and LEGO. Bring a bathing suit and a towel. It follows Touch A Truck neatly enough to make a single day of the two. Free RSVP.
7. Brooklyn Book Festival Children’s Day | Downtown Brooklyn
Saturday, September 26 | 10am–4pm | Brooklyn Borough Hall and Plaza, 209 Joralemon Street | FREE
Readings, workshops, performances and art projects, with R.J. Palacio of Wonder, Bess Kalb, Mahogany L. Browne, Jorge Aguirre and Adam Gidwitz confirmed. Festival Day for older readers is Sunday the 27th. Programme.
8. 60th Bay Ridge Ragamuffin Parade | Bay Ridge
Saturday, September 26 | registration 11am, steps off 1pm | 76th Street and 3rd Avenue | FREE
Sixty years of children marching in costume down Third Avenue to 92nd Street. Registration is at Our Lady of Angels on 74th Street; every registered child who walks the full route gets a gift, and children must be accompanied along the way. Parade details.
9. Sneaker Con | Coney Island
Saturday and Sunday, September 26–27 | 12–7pm both days | Maimonides Park, 1904 Surf Avenue | Ticketed
Two hundred vendors, a hundred thousand sneakers, free authentication and a stage with giveaways. The organisers call it family-friendly and welcome strollers, but everyone aged four and up needs a ticket and it is a resale marketplace, not a children’s event — a good one for sneakerhead tweens and teens, a long afternoon for anyone younger. Tickets.
10. Atlantic Antic | Boerum Hill
Sunday, September 27 | 12–6pm, rain or shine | Atlantic Avenue, Fourth Avenue to the waterfront | FREE
Brooklyn’s oldest and largest street festival, with our very own PLAYTOPIA kids zone with dozens of free kids activities on Boerum Place in Boerum Hill. Festival site.
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