Huge LIC Springs Festival Returns To Vernon Boulevard This Weekend

LONG ISLAND CITY, QUEENS — For the first time since 2019, Vernon Boulevard will be bumping with music, dance, art, food, and thousands of people on Saturday as the annual LIC Springs! festival returns.

The event, organized by the Long Island City Partnership, will be back from 12-5 p.m. Saturday on Vernon Boulevard between 46th and 50th avenues, in the heart of Hunter's Point. Now in its ninth year, the festival had been "reimagined" in the last two years due to the pandemic, organizers said.

Upwards of 10,000 people and more than 100 businesses are expected to attend on Saturday, sampling food from neighborhood restaurants like Bareburger, Sweet Chick, Tuk Tuk, Madera Cuban Grill, Manducatis Rustica and many others.

Art programming will be on tap thanks to MoMA PS1, Museum of the Moving Image, BrickHouse Ceramic Art Center, the Noguchi Museum and others. Activities will include a puppy meet and greet, LEGO robotic coding, strength and board-breaking contests, and Irish dance lessons, among others.

Meanwhile, a main stage facing 48th Avenue will host performances all afternoon, with acts including McManus Irish Dance & Jiggy Tots, Long Island City School of Ballet and BEAT Global.

Learn more and view a full schedule of events at the festival website.

"We’re thrilled to bring back LIC Springs! as a street festival and as a key event to showcase why Long Island City is a great place to live, work and visit, and also operate a small business," said Patricia Dunphy, board chair of Long Island City Partnership, in a statement.

"With more than 100 participants, it’s a testament to the endurance of our great community and I encourage everyone to show their support by joining us for what is sure to be a fun-filled day out."