Sensory-Friendly 'Big Umbrella Festival' Returns To Lincoln Center

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — Lincoln Center's Big Umbrella Festival — a month-long event series featuring performing arts programming designed for audiences with autism and other developmental disabilities of all ages — is making its return this April.

From April 4 through April 20, artists from around the world will come to Lincoln Center to perform and lead sensory-friendly workshops outdoors.

Most events are free, and some are "pay-what-you-wish," event organizers said.

Now in its seventh iteration, the festival will host its first-ever Spanish language performance of Hamlet, featuring a cast of actors with Down syndrome.

“Access to the arts for all is core to what drives our work here at Lincoln Center,” said Shanta Thake, the chief artistic officer of Lincoln Center. “We are proud to continue expanding the Big Umbrella Festival, meeting neurodiverse audiences where they are and embracing a multitude of ways to engage with the arts."

In addition to the in-person events, Lincoln Center is also hosting a virtual workshop as well.

Here are some of the highlights:

• April 4-6 and 11-13: Explore a landscape of foliage light, sound and shadow with the United States premiere of When the World Turns.
• April 4-6, 9-13, and 16-20: Play with eight captivating, larger-than-life spinning tops in an interactive outdoor art installation called Los Trompos.
• April 3-4: Virtual Crip Movement Lab, a workshop for all disabled people and their non-disabled accomplices, and an evening of standup comedy, both presented in collaboration with the ReelAbilities Film Festival.
• April 5: CMS Kids: Moving Music—where audiences can experience how an ensemble works together through active listening, movement, and call-and-response activities.
• April 11-13: The U.S. premiere of The Sticky Dance for Sensory Groovers, an interactive performance encouraging audiences to freely explore a colorful tapestry of sticky, tactile tape.
• April 12: E.P.I.C. Players will present a sample of their 2025 season, shining a light on neurodiverse talent through music, theater, and dance performances.
• The New York premiere of Hamlet, joyful and enigmatic reimagining of Shakespeare’s timeless work performed in Spanish by a cast of actors with Down syndrome. There will be English subtitles.

To see the full lineup, click here.

Correction, Feb. 28: A previous version of the article mistakenly stated that all events would take place outdoors under an umbrella and that there was more than one virtual activity.