Family fun days with City Parks and Disney

Now that summer is here, there are still plenty of opportunities for fun in city parks. City Parks Foundation’s SummerStage Kids presented by Disney, New York City’s first international family festival, offers over 95 free performing arts events at 34 locations citywide through Aug. 17 for over 25,000 New York City children and their families.

The festival includes African dance, American roots music, hip-hop, jazz, mime, circus, tap and puppetry from cultures around the world and around the corner. It engages the city youth in the arts and culture of the diverse communities of New York City and beyond. The expansion of the arts festival, previously named CityParks Kids, is made possible through the support of The Walt Disney Company.

“We see SummerStage Kids as a wonderful opportunity for kids and families to spend memorable moments together — a core value of our company,” said Kevin Callahan, vice president, Corporate Citizenship, Community Engagement. “It’s also an amazing chance to showcase the incredible diversity that New York City has to offer through arts, culture, and creativity.”

SummerStage Kids is also happy to announce its first ever commissioned piece, an international collaborative circus theater piece with Pittsburgh-based Zany Umbrella Circus and Berlin-based Oko Soloko. Set in 1920s Paris, France, and inspired by Mirette on the Highwire, an award winning children’s book written by Emily Arnold McCully, this circus theater piece integrates clown, dance, theater, live music and, of course, circus.

In addition to these exciting new initiatives, SummerStage Kids will also begin each performance with a reading and giveaway of beloved children’s poet Shel Silverstein’s classic books.

For the most up-to-date scheduling and line-up for all programming, visit www.CityParksFoundation.org.