1Whitney Biennial 2026
America's most-watched contemporary art survey reads the national mood through 56 artists wrestling with AI, climate grief and power.
Art Shows vs Live Music This Weekend
Gallery walls or a great set — compare this weekend's art and music picks side by side.
Updated June 18, 2026 · Weekend of Jun 20–21, 2026
Art & exhibitions
2Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera at MoMA
Kahlo and Rivera reunite at MoMA—paintings, a drawing and vintage portraits staged inside a theatrical, opera-inspired installation.
3Iris van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses
Couture meets the laboratory in sculptural gowns that look grown rather than sewn, blurring fashion, nature and engineering.
4Weekend Art: Summer Print Jam
Get inky at an all-ages printmaking session marking Immigrant Heritage Month, with talks and pulled prints you can make yourself.
5Pop-Up Talks
Free bite-size talks led by guides who decode standout works across the galleries, rolling out fresh every quarter-hour.
6Flip Sides: Seeing Korean Art Anew
A reimagined look at Korean art invites you to see familiar forms from unexpected angles across centuries of craft and ideas.
7Household Gods: Hindu Devotional Prints, 1860–1930
Vivid devotional prints from a transformative era show how mass printing brought Hindu gods into homes across generations.
8End of Days: Nile Harris & Dyer Rhoads
A charged live performance from Nile Harris and Dyer Rhoads, staged as part of this year's headline-grabbing Whitney Biennial.
9Doomscroll (Live Show): Joshua Citarella
Watch the Doomscroll podcast recorded live, with theorist David Harvey joining the conversation as part of the Whitney Biennial.
10Kite Festival - Brooklyn Bridge Park
Hundreds of kites rise over Brooklyn Bridge Park in colorful mid-day flight.
11Bargemusic Concerts - June 21 - Brooklyn Bridge Park
Sunday chamber music aboard a moored barge, with the harbor swaying gently beneath the strings.
12CCCADI Juneteenth Celebration Brings Carnival to Harlem - Celebrate, Socialize and Explore
A carnival-spirited Juneteenth celebration brings J'ouvert energy, masquerade but diaspora culture to the streets of Harlem for one charged afternoon.
Live music
1BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn 2026 FREE shows
The beloved free summer concert series fires up at the open-air bandshell, where live sets ring out under the Brooklyn sky.
2BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Returns with “Radical Joy” | BRIC
Free open-air concerts return to the Prospect Park bandshell with a lineup spanning soul legends, drag-cabaret and global sounds.
3SummerStage Festival - June
Free open-air concerts roll on at Central Park's iconic field, your low-lift cue to grab a blanket and stay a while.
4Summer Solstice Celebration
Bookend the longest day with sunrise and sunset music on the Cherry Esplanade—a serene, see-it-once way to honor the solstice.
5From Chains to Change JUNETEENTH , Cultural Fest
A free Juneteenth celebration fills the park with performances, culture and community spirit honoring the journey from chains to change.
6Queens Rockfest 2026
A full afternoon of live rock takes over the Forest Park bandshell for a free, loud, all-day summer blowout.
7Solstice in the Park
Celebrate the year's longest day with an afternoon of live music in the park's leafy concert grove—pure summer-arrival energy.
8Make Music New York
Free live sets rolling across the boardwalk as the citywide solstice music day rolls into the surf-side sands.
9Make Music New York
The city's free open-air music day takes over the busiest downtown plaza, with performers turning the pavement into an all-afternoon stage.
10Bargemusic Concerts - June 21 - Brooklyn Bridge Park
Sunday chamber music aboard a moored barge, with the harbor swaying gently beneath the strings.
11Climate Sing - Brooklyn Bridge Park
A communal waterfront singalong gathers voices for a second annual climate-themed afternoon of song with the harbor as backdrop.
12CCCADI Juneteenth Celebration Brings Carnival to Harlem - Celebrate, Socialize and Explore
A carnival-spirited Juneteenth celebration brings J'ouvert energy, masquerade but diaspora culture to the streets of Harlem for one charged afternoon.