June 3, 2021 By Ryan Songalia
An annual festival celebrating small businesses in Long Island City returns this month with a few notable twists.
The event—called LIC Springs to Summer!—typically consists of a street festival along Vernon Boulevard but this year it will be replaced by a series of events and promotions throughout the district over the course of a week.
This will be the second year running where the festival is not being held on Vernon Boulevard—given COVID– with the events held in specific locations in the neighborhood.
The 2021 festival, organized by the LIC Partnership, will see the debut of the LIC Passport, which will provide attendees with access to local events and promotions that can be redeemed during the festival that runs from June 14-20. The promotions include everything from concerts to dinner deals.
The free passports will be distributed leading up to and during the week of the event at various pick-up locations through Long Island City.
Some of the events and activities on tap include a performance and luncheon at Flux Factory; yoga classes offered at Pure Barre LIC; yoga classes at barre3; yoga at Form + Flow; as well as spin art at Little Chef Little Café.
There will also be wine tastings at SquareWine & Spirits and a workshop on maintaining good eye health from Dussan Eye Care.
Other events will be hosted by Museum of the Moving Image, SculptureCenter and MoMA PS1, among others.
Event organizers hope “LIC Springs to Summer!” will serve as a “launching pad” to greater economic activity post pandemic.
“We’re emerging out of an unprecedented time and we wanted to use this experience to celebrate the reopening of our great city, show community readiness and support our local businesses,” said Elizabeth Lusskin, president of the LIC Partnership.
A series of free live performances and performance art is on tap for Friday, June 18 from 7-9 p.m. at Culture Lab LIC at The Plaxall Gallery.
The full list of events and promotions, totaling over 100 participants, will be released on Thursday, June 3.
For more information, click here.
