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Thousands Expected At Third LIC Springs! On May 14

LIC Springs 2015, via Facebook

May 6, 2016 By Michael Florio

The Long Island City Partnership is gearing up for its third annual Vernon Boulevard block party.

The partnership will host the festival, called LIC Springs!, on May 14 from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. The free event takes place on Vernon Boulevard between 50^th Avenue and 46^th Avenue, rain or shine.

Cultural groups, fitness companies and bars/restaurants will be participating in this year’s event. Last year about 10,000 people attended and the LIC Partnership expects comparable numbers next week.

“LIC Springs! block festival showcases the Long Island City Community and its wide variety of businesses and community organizations, cultural institutions and artists, retail shops, restaurants and more,” said Elizabeth Lusskin, the president of the LIC Partnership.

A number of new activities were added to the festival this year.

Sugarcube Dessert & Coffee will offer 3-D candy making and Row New York will offer a chance to try a rowing machine. Attendees will be able to participate in games for prizes, hosted by LIC co-working facilities SPACES and WeWork.

There will also be activities for children and even pets.

LIC Kids Gymnastics will provide an obstacle course for children in attendance. The Queens Book Festival will host readings with children’s authors.

JD Dog Training and Yuruani Olguin Dog Training/LIC Dog Walk will host activities for pets.

There will be a number of art-making opportunities as well. Attendees can create landscape art with MoMA PS1, make puppets with Socrates Sculpture Park and do arts and crafts with SculptureCenter. Brickhouse Ceramic Arts will offer wheel-throwing demonstrations.

The Museum of the Moving Image will have participants creating optical toys called Thaumatropes and the Noguchi Museum will be making sculpture puzzles. Sage Music will be offering music lessons.

Participants can also help paint a collective LIC Springs! mural with 7 Train Murals.

Also new to the LIC Springs!, Joffrey Queens Ballet School and Jessica Lang Dance will perform live. There will also be Broadway tunes, a karaoke contest, and African music performances, among others.

The Partnership will once again host a LIC Springs! photo contest, giving out prizes to winners.

Attendees can enter to win a “Night Out in LIC!” prize package including a gift certificate for Woodbines, Tickets to Thalia Spanish Theatre, the Queensboro Dance Festival and a facial at Tailormade For You Skincare. Participants can tag pictures that they post online with #LICSprings @LICQueens to enter.

“There’s something for everyone: live performances all day long at the stage, art-making activities for families and kids, outdoor dining from local restaurants here in LIC, and even a photo booth for pets,” Lusskin said. “For the third year in a row, LIC Springs! offers New Yorkers a chance experience everything LIC.”