Spring is on its way, so why not enjoy the best the city has to offer before those April showers start hitting? Whether you’re a beer snob, a foodie, an art geek, or a cinephile, you’re sure to find something on this list that’ll have you in the mood to go out and about and enjoy the best that NYC has to offer, all thanks to us!
1. Live Art Night (1628 Jefferson Ave, March 1 @ 7 PM)
Looking to get inspired? Starting today and continuing every Thursday, enjoy the company of models, dancers, fashion designers and artists as they create 15' tall still lifes and installations that attendees can use as a “reference to draw from life.”
Entrance is free before 8 pm and only $10 after, so you don’t have to break the bank either. This season’s collaborators will include The Skin Project, Mark Ash, Jimi Lucid, Virginia Slims, @tigermomdragonlady and more!
2. Beer And Pizza Tour (Tompkins Square Park, Various Dates/Times)
Beer and pizza; a match made in heaven.
But why enjoy them alone on your couch when you can instead enjoy them with help from a licensed tour guide who’ll steer you toward the best varieties of the famous food and drink the East Village has to offer in between informative stops at historic NYC sites like the home of Allen Ginsberg and the iconic Tompkins Square Park?
While today is your first chance to join in the fun, these tours will run through all of March and beyond!
3. March Madness 2018 (Various Locations and Dates/Times)
New York City is the “birthplace of major college basketball,” so it’s no surprise that many of the biggest events in the NCAA Division Men's Basketball Tournament, better known as March Madness, are taking place right where we want 'em.
Tomorrow kicks it all off with the big 10 tournament at Madison Square Garden, but other events throughout the month will include the ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament on March 6th, Big East Basketball on the 7th, and the National Invitation Tournament on the 27th.
Slam dunk!
4. Spring Revolution Festival (80 North 6th St, Various Dates/Times)
There may be no better way to celebrate the start of spring than by joining “unparalleled, artist-led, non-profit” Brooklyn venue National Sawdust in their annual two-week festival celebrating Stravinsky’s iconic work, The Rite of Spring.
The proceedings kick off with a show on March 2nd from one-woman studio band L’Rain and finish off on the 11th with a performance by the Aakash Mittal’s Awaz Trio, with plenty more amazing stuff in between.
You can buy tickets to individual shows or grab a festival pass for access to five of your choice!
5. The Orchid Show (2900 Southern Boulevard, Various Dates)
Feeling flowery? Starting on Saturday, March 3rd, you can join the Bronx’s famous New York Botanical Gardens for its 16th year of The Orchid Show, which will showcase “thousands of dramatically displayed orchids in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory featuring a series of installations crafted by Daniel Ost.”
Adults 21 and over can also enjoy the show on Orchid Evenings, which will add to festivity with musical performances and specialty cocktails.
6. 2018 Women’s Jazz Festival (515 Malcolm X Boulevard, March 5, 12 & 26)
What better way to kick off your Women’s History Month than hearing some tunes from some of the best-known and unsung female performers in jazz today?
On four consecutive Mondays, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture will be jazzin' it up with:
“Celebration of Alice Coltrane” on March 5th, “Fostina Dixon And Winds Of Change” on March 12, “For The Love Of Abbey Lincoln” on March 19th, and a closing night performance on the 26th.
Why not just catch em all?
7. The Poetry Brothel (2 Wyckoff Avenue, March 6 @ 8 PM)
This March, experience poetry like you’ve never experienced it before at Brooklyn’s hip House Of Yes!
An expert cast of poetry “whores” will be available to “impart their work in public readings, spontaneous eruptions of poetry, and most distinctly, as purveyors of private poetry readings on beds, chaise lounges and in private rooms,” all within the unforgettable atmosphere of an “immersive cabaret that will feature burlesque, live music, vaudeville, aerials, visual art, magic, and mysticism, with newly integrated themes, performances and installations.”
Whew, that was a mouthful. Check out their website for more deets!
8. Yeah She Did: Stories About Women You Should Know (21A Clinton St, March 7 @ 9 pm)
Want to find out about some of history’s baddest bitches? Join Caveat for a “most kickass kick-off to International Women’s Day as a lineup of extraordinary comedians, writers, and storytellers celebrate some of the greatest women the world has ever known.”
All proceeds from the event will go to the Malala Fund, an organization that advocates for girls' education, so you’ll be helping fire up the next generation as well.
9. Rendez-Vous with French Cinema (165 W. 65th Street & 144 W. 65th Street, Various Dates/Times)
Why settle for the same old Americana when there’s a whole 'nother culture of cinema out there just waiting for your eyes?
From March 8-18, The Film Society of Lincoln Center will be highlighting the variety and vitality of contemporary French filmmaking with showings of movies like Montparnasse Bienvenüe, Petit Paysan, Tomorrow and Thereafter, and so many more!
Special passes are also available for students and “Salut les jeunes day” on March 12! Ooh la la!
10. New York Times Talk; Ava DuVernay (63 Fifth Avenue, March 8 @ 7 pm)
Why spend an evening alone when you can spend it with “Oscar and Golden Globe-nominated director, producer and screenwriter Ava DuVernay as she discusses 2018's most anticipated film, "A Wrinkle in Time"?
As the first woman of color to direct a film with a budget of over $100 million, she’s sure to go down in history much as the literary space and time-bending masterpiece her film is based on, so why not catch her while you can?
11. Mansions, Money, & Scandal, Part 1: From Frick To Audrey Hepburn (488 Madison Ave, March 10 @ 11 am)
Curious about the scandals, history, and architecture of New York in the Gilded Age?
Join the Municipal Art Society Of New York and Alan M. Engler for a walking tour that will take use NYC landmarks to show you “how names like Frick, Carnegie, Vanderbilt, Rockefeller, and the architects Richard Morris Hunt, Warren and Wetmore, and McKim, Mead and White, among others, have left their mark in these neighborhoods.”
This is only the first in a series of four tours, so keep an eye out for the follow-ups!
12. Metropolitan Opera: Madama Butterfly ( 30 Lincoln Center Plaza, Various Times/Dates)