MAIN Travel New York City Museum Mile Festival

The Museum Mile Festival in New York is billed by the festival organizers as the largest block party in New York.

The festival is held annually, usually in the evening in June on the second Tuesday of the month, and stretches along 5th Avenue in New York, between 82nd and 105th, which is roughly a mile. The streets are closed off to cars and for that one evening the whole mile becomes a walking festival.

This year, the 31st annual Museum Mile Festival is scheduled for June 9, 2009 from 6PM -9PM, rain or shine.

The first Museum Mile Festival was held in 1978 with the aim of letting people experience the many museums along this stretch of road in a fun and entertaining atmosphere. The event is free, and festival goers are allowed to wander the many world class museums, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Design Museum, and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum all located along the 5th Avenue stretch.

Museums certainly aren't the only attraction though. Many of the museums also provide art related activities for kids, and musicians and bands of various flavors can be found playing everywhere. The festival also plays host to a variety of street performers which entertain crowds up and down the mile stretch.

In total, well over a million people have participated in the Museum Mile Festival over the years, and the event is a success every year. The Museum Mile Festival has such a high reputation, in fact, that tourists and people from the surrounding area come to New York specifically for the event, to enjoy New York's rich cultural heritage with the many New Yorkers who come out to enjoy the festival.

More about the Museum Mile Festival around the Web:

Museum Mile Festival - The official site, with information on this year's festivities including the complete schedule of participating museums, map & directions, performers and street entertainment, photos.

Museums participating in the Museum Mile Festival

Museum of the City of New York
(212) 534-1672
www.mcny.org

El Museo del Barrio
(212) 831-7272
www.elmuseo.org

The Jewish Museum
(212) 423-3200
www.thejewishmuseum.org

Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution
(212) 849-8400
www.si.edu/ndm

National Academy Museum and School of Fine Arts
(212) 369-4880
www.nationalacademy.org

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
(212) 423-3500
www.guggenheim.org

Neue Galerie New York
(212) 628-6200
www.neuegalerie.org

Goethe-Institut New York/German Cultural Center
(212) 439-8700
www.goethe.de/newyork

The Metropolitan Museum of Art
(212) 535-7710
www.metmuseum.org

also see in Art & Culture -> The World's Great Museums

Top 5 Attractions at the Louvre