Central Park blooms each summer with free entertainment. The free Hudson River Festival through August 31 features art shows, entertainment, and music in riverside Wagner Park, the esplanade in Battery Park City, and the courtyard and Winter Garden of the World Financial Center. Little Italy's San Gennaro Festival fills Mulberry Street with rides, entertainment, a parade, and a religious procession. Free 90-minute guided downtown walking tours of New York old and new are offered every Thursday and Saturday at noon, leaving from the steps of the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, One Bowling Green, Tel. Participants from 35 countries parade in colourful costume to contagious musical rhythms for the West Indian American Day Carnival Parade in Brooklyn September 3.
Food stands offering Caribbean specialties line the route.
From Eastern Pkwy. Free red, white, and blue shuttles to the pier travel every 15 minutes along 57th, 49th, 42nd, and 34th streets. The recently installed Gelman Galleries, a permanent exhibit, includes 20th-century masterpieces by Matisse, Picasso, Modigiliani, Miro, and others. The Annenberg Collection , a loan exhibit of 53 paintings, watercolours, and drawings by 18 of the greatest French artists of the 19th and early 20th centuries, continues through November 25. Head for the outdoor Roof Garden for a snack or a glass of wine, a peerless view of Central Park and the city skyline, and a chance to see work by sculptor Joel Shapiro.