Well Happy Labor Day and let’s hope your labors are few this long weekend. September is officially here, and we hope you’ll join at one or both of our events this month – Sept. 26 Film Screening – and 10^th Wine Trip to the North Fork Vineyards.  If you’re in NYC this weekend, there’s a lot going on, like the Salsa Dance Festival, Outdoor Opera, an outdoor art fair, and lobster and beer. Who needs the Hamptons?

Sept. 1. Lobster & Beer

Hester Street Fair’s fourth Lobster and Beer event is happening over Labor Day Weekend. The idea is simple: a lot of beer, great local vendors and the best lobster the city has to offer. Oh and you’ll find oysters too. Grab a lobster roll before they’re gone, chug a $4 Old Blue Last, and come chill in the park for the last weekend of the summer! Get the details.

Sept. 1. Salsa Dance Festival

New York City’s premiere Latin dance and music is happening this weekend at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square. Enjoy workshops and performances from today’s most talented dancers, live music from world-famous bands, and social dancing all night long.

Featuring live bands, concerts, performance showcases, instructional workshops, and non-stop social dancing all in the center of the world’s greatest city, come see why the NYISC brings thousands of attendees from New York and over 40 countries worldwide for an annual celebration of Latin dance, music and culture. Get the details.

Sept. 1-3.  Outdoor Opera at Lincoln Center

One of the best events to end summer with, the Summer HD  Summer HD Festival features thrilling performances from the Met’s Live in HD series of cinema transmissions.  Grab one of the approximately 2,800 seats set up in front of the opera house each night, as well as additional standing room around Lincoln Center Plaza. Here’s the weekend schedule which concludes with Madame Butterfly:

Saturday, September 1, 8 pm. Un Ballo in Maschera Verdi

An all-star cast—including tenor Marcelo Álvarez, soprano Sondra Radvanovsky, and the incomparable baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky—comes together for Verdi’s tragedy of love, friendship, and betrayal. Original transmission: December 8, 2012

Sunday, September 2, 7:15 pm. Der Rosenkavalier R. Strauss

In Strauss’s poignant yet insightful comedy, soprano Renée Fleming and mezzo-soprano Elīna Garanča lead an unforgettable performance, which also features bass Günther Groissböck and soprano Erin Morley. Original transmission: May 13, 2017

Monday, September 3, 8 pm. Madama Butterfly Puccini

Anthony Minghella’s striking production stars soprano Kristine Opolais as the tragic title geisha, opposite tenor Roberto Alagna as her unfaithful American lover. Original transmission: April 2, 2016

September 1-3. Washington Square Outdoor Art Exhibit

For 85 years, Greenwich Village has been celebrating artists.  This sidewalk art show takes place on University Place, starting at 13^th Street, and showcases fine artists and craft artisans from around the New York metropolitan area, the nation and the world. Attendees come from all over and are a cosmopolitan mix, including art lovers, tourists, faculty and students from the area’s many schools and professionals such as interior designers. You never know who you’ll discover. Get more details.

Sept. 5. Art & Activism Event at SVA Theatre

Hosted by Valerie Smaldone, five celebrated artists across various disciplines will appear and talk about their particular form of art and activism as it relates to social justice, at this free event Sept. 5 at 6:30 PM.

Featured speakers are:

• Comedians Scott Blakeman and Negin Farsad from “Stand Up for Peace,” a performance based organization promoting conflict resolution through comedy

• Photojournalist Kathy Shorr, author of “SHOT:101 Survivors of Gun Violence in America,” which focuses attention on the stories of those whose lives have been forever changed by the trauma they experienced

• Writer Jake Halpern and illustrator Michael Sloan, Pulitzer Prize-winners for “Welcome to the New World,” a visual narrative of a Syrian refugee family’s desperate journey to America, published in the New York Times.

Please go to www.artandactivismsva.eventbrite.com to reserve your FREE tickets.