#WeeklyColumn | June 29 – July 5 | It’s In Queens!
BY QEDC It's In Queens
Independence Day Weekend is coming, and yet again Queens is the best place to watch the Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks show. Well, it’s also a great spot and time for dance festivals, rock-and-roll cruises, sidewalk sales, fatal love, and Swamp Monkeys.
June 29, Sunset Concert Cruise with Electrix, 7:30 pm. All aboard an American Princess liner for live rock music by Electrix and appetizers from Thai Rock with a cash bar. $35. Thai Rock Dock, 375 Beach 92nd St., Rockaway Beach.
June 29, Independence Celebration, 7:30 pm. The Queens Symphony Orchestra followed by Grucci fireworks. Free. Astoria Park Lawn, Shore Boulevard between pool and Hell Gate Bridge.
June 30, Fourth of July Sidewalk Sale, July 4. Shop on Myrtle Avenue and adjacent side streets between Wyckoff Avenue and Fresh Pond Road in Ridgewood for five days.
July 1, Fatal Love: Where Are We Now?, July 2. Artists, academics, and curators examine contemporary work by artists, academics, and curators in the South Asian American Diaspora. Panel discussions, installations, exhibits. Free. The first session is on June 30 at Manhattan’s Asia House. The following two sessions are on July 1-2, 10 am to 6:30 pm, at Queens Museum, NYC Building, Flushing Meadows Corona Park.
July 1, Closing of Film Movement, July 2. This series, which screens independent and international films, is ending. Antonia’s Line (July 1, 2:30 pm) follows Antonia’s return to her Dutch hometown after World War II. Somers Town (July 1, 5 pm) is a coming-of-age tale of two teens, new to London, who forge an unlikely friendship during a hot summer. Jasper Jones (July 2, 7 pm) is an Australian movie about a dangerous journey to solve a mystery. $15. Museum of the Moving Image, 36-01 35th Ave., Astoria’s Kaufman Arts District.
July 1, Hands-On History: American Lanterns, 1 pm. Explore how Americans celebrated Independence Day in the 19th century and make festive red, white, and blue lanterns. Free. King Manor Museum, King Park, Jamaica Avenue and 153rd Street, Jamaica.
July 1, Omar’s Block Party, 2 pm to 6 pm. Omar Olusion celebrates the holiday weekend with live DJ music, dance contests, games, magic shows, and a landmarked carousel that was hand-carved by Master Daniel Muller in 1903. Free. Forest Park Carousel, Forest Park, Woodhaven.
July 1, Yankee Doodle Dandy, 1 pm. Watch and discuss this 1942 classic musical film about George M. Cohan. Known as “The Man Who Owned Broadway,” this Irish-American entertainer had a unique style of half-singing and half-reciting songs. Free. Greater Astoria Historical Society, 35-20 Broadway, LIC.
July 4, James Williams and the Swamp Donkeys, 2 pm. This traditional New Orleans band mixes classic jazz with fresh, fun, and exciting ideas. $20-$50. Louis Armstrong House Museum, 34-56 107th St., Corona.
July 5, Monthly Jazz Jam, 7 pm. A fun way to hone skills and jam with peers. The house band is led by Astoria-based saxophonist Carol Sudhalter. All are welcome (vocalists, too). Don’t play? Come listen. $10. Flushing Town Hall, 137-35 Northern Blvd.
July 5, Timbuktu, 7 pm. African cultural presentations followed by the outdoor screening of a film set in Mali that follows a young family of Tuareg shepherds. Enter radical jihadists whose Sharia law forbids listening to Western music, playing soccer, and socializing between the sexes. Part of an ongoing series. Free. Socrates Sculpture Park, 32-01 Vernon Blvd., LIC.
July 5, Dance Festival, 7 pm. The Just Sole! Street Dance Theater Company performs after giving a hip-hop workshop. Then, Pretty BIG Movement takes the stage. Free. Springfield Park, 184th Street and 146th Terrace, Springfield Gardens.
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Top image: Lisa Gneo/RockStar Hotels; Bottom image: Louis Armstrong House Museum