What To Do: Fourth of July

What To Do: Fourth of July: Here’s 18 of the best what to dos in & around town for the Independence Day weekend. We’ve got fireworks five ways, George Washington at John Jay, and everything from Israeli Folk Dancing to West Side Story, a clambake dinner on Sheffield Island, a vintage air show, David Crosby, Pat Benatar and The Grateful Dead. And the proverbial … whole lot more.

Fireworks

Fireworks! Kensico Fireworks & Music Fest: Pre-concert entertainment begins at 6 p.m. The dance band Gerard Carelli and his Orchestra (classical, swing, Motown and rock) performs at 8 p.m. A fireworks display in front of the dam follows at 9:15 p.m. Admission and parking are free. Carpooling is suggested. Bring lawn chairs or blankets for seating. Fri, 7/3: 6pm. (1 Bronx River Parkway, Valhalla: www.westchestergov.com)

Photo by Gabe Palacio

Pops, Patriots and Fireworks for the Fourth of July: You can picnic before the show, leave your soccer chairs and coolers on the lawn during the concert and they’ll be waiting for you after the show when the fireworks begin. No hassle parking and a spacious lawn with lots of elbowroom. Plus the Westchester Symphonic Winds, and Broadway’s Ryan Silverman perform “The Star Spangled Banner”, John Phillip Sousa’s “The Stars And Stripes Forever”, highlights, from Anything Goes, Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture and more. Sat, 7/4: 8pm.  (Caramoor, Venetian Theatre, 149 Girdle Ridge Rd., Katonah; www.caramoor.com)

Fireworks! Sail on the Schooner Soundwaters: Pack a dinner and a chilled summer quaff and watch the sun set and the fireworks over the Long Island Sound on this special fireworks sail on the Schooner Soundwaters from Stanford’s Harbor Park Marina. Thurs, 7/2: 7-10:30pm. (Stamford Harbor Park Marina, 333 Ludlow St., Stamford www.soundwaters.org)

Fireworks! Playland
 Park: Fireworks displays, computer-fired and choreographed to a musical soundtrack, Fri, -Sat, 7/3-4: 9:15pm, Plus every Friday evening in July and August: 9:15 p.m. (100 Playland Parkway, Rye; www.ryeplayland.org)

Fireworks on the Hudson: Manhattan expats who have been spoiled by water view fireworks displays over the East River or the ocean in Easthampton, you can get your fix of right here in the Hudson Valley at the Mid-Hudson Children’s Museum in Poughkeepsie. You can check out the museum before, there are picnic areas available and you can reserve a parking space. Admission is $40 per car and you can get a front row seat overlooking the Hudson River. Sat, 7/4: 7-9pm. (Mid-Hudson Children’s Museum, 75 North Water St., Poughkeepsie; www.mhcm.org)

More kids stuff

By Gabe Palacio

Israeli Folk Dancing with Danny Pollock and Tavche Gravche: Get out on the spacious lawn of Caramoor’s Friends Field and experience the world of Israeli dance in all its multiethnic glory! Participants will learn circle, partner, and line dances, representing different ethnic aspects of Israeli folk dance, including dances in the Chassidic (Eastern European) tradition, in the Yemenite and Turkish styles, and dances that exemplify the exuberance of the Hora, the core style of Israeli dancing. Wed, 7/1: 5pm. (Caramoor, 149 Girdle Ridge Rd., Katonah; www.caramoor.com)

Back to the Future – 30^th Anniversary Screening at Jacob Burns: Hop in your DeLorean and travel back exactly 30 years to July 3, 1985, the day Robert Zemieckis’s Back to the Future was released! Do you ever get tired of Lea Thompson calling Michael J. Fox “Calvin”? (After spying his Calvin Klein briefs.) Or the upside down anachronisms lke: Dr. Emmett Brown: “Who’s President of the United States in 1985? Marty McFly: Ronald Reagan. Dr. Emmett Brown: Ronald Reagan?! The actor? Then who’s Vice President? Jerry Lewis? Fri, 7/3: 8pm. (Jacob Burns Film Center, 364 Manville Rd., Pleasantville; www.burnsfilmcenter.org)

Local! John Jay Homestead Independence Day Fair: Colonial games and encampment, house tours, hayrides, pony rides, crafts, face painting, educational discovery centers, beekeeping, blacksmith demonstrations, horses, crafts, live music, food and refreshments and a reading of the Declaration of Independence from George Washington – or a reasonable facsimile. Hosted by the Rotary Club of Bedford-Armonk and Friends of John Jay Homestead. Fri, 7/4: 11am-4pm. (400 Jay St./Rt. 22, Katonah; www.friendsofjohnjay.org)

Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome: The Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome, a “living” museum of antique aviation, offers one of the largest collections of early aero planes (1909 to 1939) in the world weekend, plus weekend airshows, and bi-plane rides. The museum displays aircraft form the Pioneer Era, World War I and the Lindbergh Barnstorming era. Saturday airshows chronicle the History of Flight with Pioneer, World War I and Lindbergh era aircraft including a 1909 Bleriot – the oldest flying aircraft in the United States. On Sat, 7/4 there’s a special History of Flight Air Show and on Sun, 7/5 you can catch a WWI Air Show. (9 Norton Rd, Red Hook; www.oldrhinebeck.org)

Mixed Bag

Local! Armonk’s First Thursdays: Kick off your Independence Day celebration in downtown Armonk. The Armonk Chamber of Commerce’s First Thursdays presents art, music, in-store promotions, dining, wine tastings and more in downtown Armonk the first Thursday in June, July, August and September. You’ll find music in Armonk Square and Opus 465, special offers at Amore, Mariachi Mexico, Zero Otto Nove and other restaurants. Plus special activities, events and raffles at LOL Kids, LaGravinese Jewelers, Castle Cab, Framings, DeCiccos and more. Check online for a full list of promotions.  Thurs, 6/4, 7/2, 8/6 & 9/3: 5-9pm.

YANKEE DOODLE DANDY – NCPL: Long Island University Professor Valerie Franco celebrates the Fourth of July with a well-timed screening of Michael Curtiz’s 1942 movie musical Yankee Doodle Dandy starring James Cagney as George M. Cohan – “the man who owned Broadway.” All together now … “I’m a Yankee Doodle Dandy, A Yankee Doodle, do or die, A real live nephew of my Uncle Sam, born on the Fourth of July. Fri, 7/3: 7pm. (North Castle Public Library, 19 Whippoorwill Rd. E., Armonk)

West Side Story – Westchester Broadway Theatre: Independence day weekend is your last chance to see West Side Story at the Westchester Broadway Theatre. Caught between two warring street gangs, the Jets and the Sharks, Tony and Maria … well you know the story. Let’s get to the songs from Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim: “Something’s Coming”, “Maria”, “America”, “Somewhere”, “Tonight”, “I Feel Pretty”. Not to mention, “When you’re a Jet, you’re a Jet all the way, from your first cigarette to your last dying day.” Fri, 7/3: 6:15pm, Sun, 7/5: 11:45am. (Westchester Broadway Theatre, One Broadway Plaza, Elmsford; www.broadwaytheatre.com)

Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival: With its breathtaking views of the Hudson River, Boscobel provides the perfect setting for the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival’s summer season. For more than 25 years, the Festival has been the only resident Shakespeare Company in the Hudson Valley. On Saturday, 7/4: 7:30pm HVSF presents the storybook world of Sheherezade as she spins irresistible tales to save her skin and warm a tyrants heart in The Arabian Nights. On Sun, 7/5: 7:30pm, HVSF performs The Winters Tale , Shakespeare’s surprising story of romance, revenge and redemption. (Boscobel, 1601 Rt. 9D, Garrison; www.boscobel.org)

Sheffield Island Lighthouse Cruises: Board the 45-foot C.J. Toth catamaran for a cruise to Sheffield Island on the Long Island Sound for a lighthouse tour, a hike on the nature trail through Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge, a picnic and other beach front activities. Sat-Sun, 7/4-7/5: 11am, 2 & 3:30pm. On Thurs, 7/2: 6pm, you can take a special clambake tour to the island and enjoy a catered lobster dinner on the island catered by Chef Clyde Ripka of Ripka’s Beach Café. (Sheffield Island Dock, Washington and Water Streets, South Norwalk, Ct.; www.seaport.org)

Music

PROJECT Trio: This red-hot chamber/jazz fusion ensemble of flute, cello and bass blends their classical training with a variety of musical inspirations from classical and jazz to rock. Hear them perform Guns & Roses, “Sweet Child of Mine” here. Their program for Caramoor features: Rossini’s William Tell, Charles Mingus’s Fables of Faubus, 
Bach & Jethro Tull’s Bouree, Beethoven’s 5th Symphony Jam
, and Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf – now set in Brooklyn!)
 Thurs, 7/2: 7pm. (Caramoor, Spanish Courtyard, 149 Girdle Ridge Rd., Katonah; www.caramoor.com)

An Evening with David Crosby: The iconic folk rocker from The Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash performs renditions of “Eight Miles High”, “Turn! Turn! Turn!”, “Guinevere” and “Wooden Ships”. Thurs, 7/2: 8pm. (Ridgefield Playhouse, 80 East Ridge, Ridgefield, CT; www.ridgefieldplayhouse.org)

Buddy Guy: Blues legend, six-time Grammy-winner and one of Rolling Stone’s Top 100 Guitarists of All Time. Thurs, 7/2: 8pm. (Tarrytown Music Hall: 13 Main St., Tarrytown; www.tarrytownmusichall.org)

Fare Thee Well: Celebrating 50 Years of The Grateful Dead: They’ll be in Chicago but you can see The Grateful Dead Reunion concerts in high definition and full-concert sound at the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester. Phish’s Trey Anastasio, Bruce Hornsby and Jeff Chimenti join Phil Lesh, Bob Weir, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzman for these final Dead shows. Tickets go on sale May 22. Fri-Sun, 7/3-5: 8pm. (Capitol Theatre, 149 Westchester Ave., Port Chester; www.capitoltheatre.com)

Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo: See Pat and hubby Neil perform “Hit Me with Your Best Shot,” “Love is a Battlefield,” “We Belong,” “Heartbreaker” and “Shadows of the Night”. Sun, 7/5: 8pm. (Ridgefield Playhouse, 80 East Ridge, Ridgefield, CT; www.ridgefieldplayhouse.org)

Ariel Quartet and Dover Quartet: The Ariel and Dover Quartets, two award winning alumni of Caramoor’s Ernst Stiefel String Quartet-in-Residence program, perform two octets and two individual quartets: Schubert’s Quartettsatz, Shostakovich’s Two Pieces for String Octet, Op. 11, Schumann’s String Quartet No. 1 in A minor, Op. 41, No. 1, 
and Mendelssohn’s Octet in E-flat major, Op. 20. Sun, 7/5: 4:30pm. (Caramoor, Venetian Theatre, 149 Girdle Ridge Rd., Katonah; www.caramoor.com)

More summer what to dos

Notable Noshes Nearby

Sign up for the What To Do: Weekend email newsletter