10 Great Events For October

Medieval Festival at Fort Tryon Park

October 4 [All Ages] Manhattan’s Fort Tryon Park will be transformed into a medieval village this month for the 31st annual Medieval Festival! The festivities include authentic medieval music, dance, and magic, and the afternoon culminates with an exciting joust between three knights on horseback. Special kid-friendly performances will take place at the Little Theatre, including puppetry, magic shows, and juggling lessons, and the Kids’ Zone will feature puppet making and other arts and crafts activities. Browse the array of medieval crafts and food vendors, and stop by the Cloisters Museum to admire real medieval European art and architecture. Free (except for admission to the Cloisters), 11:30am-6pm. Fort Tryon Park, 212-795-1600, whidc.org/festival

New York Comic Con

October 8-11 [All Ages] The largest comic book and pop culture gathering in the country returns to New York this month, bringing the latest and greatest creators in comics, graphic novels, anime, manga, video games, toys, movies, and TV. At the Comic Con Family HQ, kids can enjoy programming just for them during all four days of the show! Last year’s line-up included hands-on art workshops, interactive classes in everything from puppeteering to Harry Potter-style wand skills, and live performances. Plus, Sunday, October 11 is Kids’ Day—check the website for the full line-up of kid-friendly activities this year. Ticket prices vary, free for kids 6 and under (children under 13 must be accompanied by an adult) for a single day; event times vary. Javits Center, 655 West 34th Street at 11th Avenue, newyorkcomiccon.com

Laurie Berkner Greatest Hits Tour

October 17 [All Ages] Best-selling children’s musician and preschool television star Laurie Berkner and the Laurie Berkner Band will bring their Greatest Hits Tour to Manhattan this month, with a show at the New York Society for Ethical Culture’s Concert Hall. The concert will feature a blend of fan favorites along with tracks that will encourage young audience members to get out of their seats and dance, intermixed with quieter tunes from the “Laurie Berkner Lullabies” album. Tickets start at $37.50, 11am. The Concert Hall at the New York Society for Ethical Culture, 2 West 64th Street, 877-987-6487, laurieberkner.com 

Carnegie Hall Family Weekend

October 17-18 [Ages 3-10] Families are invited to Carnegie Hall for this fall’s Family Weekend, filled with free, interactive musical activities in the Judith Burton Resnick Education Wing. Activities include sing-alongs, instrument building (and playing), songwriting workshops, transforming ordinary objects into musical instruments in a digital sound playground, and more. There will also be performances by Sbongiseni Duma, Elizabeth Mitchell and You Are My Flower, and Shine and the Moonbeams in the Weill Music Room. Free, 11am-3pm. Carnegie Hall, 57th Street and 7th Avenue, 212-247-7800, carnegiehall.org/FamilyWeekends

Wave Hill Honey Weekend

October 17-18 [All Ages] Come out to Wave Hill for the super-sweet annual Honey Weekend! Highlights of this buzzworthy celebration include the Be a Bee family art project, during which kids outfit themselves with wings, antennae, a pollen cup, and a kazoo before joining the bee parade and dancing in a cardboard hive; a honey extraction demonstration, where you can help Wave Hill staff extract and bottle honey from the garden’s resident bees; plus a candle-making workshop and honey tastings! Free with garden admission, 10am-4pm. Wave Hill, 675 West 252nd Street, the Bronx, 718-549-3200, wavehill.org

Open House New York

October 17-18 [All Ages] For two days each October, Open House New York opens hundreds of sites across the five boroughs—from the historical to the contemporary, and the residential to the industrial—for tours, talks, performances, and additional special events. Family-friendly sites this year include the African Burial Ground National Monument, the Sunset Park Material Recovery Facility, and the King Manor Museum. There are plenty of happenings just for kids—such as scavenger hunts, special tours, and art-making—around the city. Check the website for more details and to make reservations. Free (reservations required for some activities), times vary. Various locations citywide, ohny.org

"The Gruffalo" at the New Victory Theater

October 17-25 [Ages 4-7] London-based troupe Tall Stories transforms Julia Donaldson’s award-winning picture book, "The Gruffalo," into a family musical filled with slapstick humor, sing-along songs, and even some frightening fun for the little ones. Come see what happens when Mouse imagines the Gruffalo to protect himself from the creatures that roam the deep dark wood, in “The Gruffalo” at the New Victory Theater! Tickets start at $15 for nonmembers, show times vary. The New Victory Theater, 209 West 42nd Street, 646-223-3010, newvictory.org

Big Apple Circus:"The Grand Tour"

October 21-January 10, 2016 [All Ages] The Big Apple Circus brings “The Grand Tour,” a 1920s-set circus spectacular that will feature acts from around the world—including jugglers, clowns, aerialists and acrobats from Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, and North and South America, in addition to domestic and rescue animals—to the Big Top this fall! Set against a transportation-themed backdrop of ships, trains, and automobiles, this international cohort will perform to live music played by the seven-piece Big Apple Circus Band. The show runs two hours with an intermission. Tickets start at $25, children under 3 are free if they sit on the lap of a paid adult, one child per lap; showtimes vary. Damrosh Park on Lincoln Center Plaza, Amsterdam Avenue and West 62nd Street, 800-922-3772, bigapplecircus.org

Thalia Kids' Book Club: Guys Read Terrifying Tales

October 25 [Ages 8-12] Six of the contributors to the newest book in the Guys Read series—including Jon Scieszka (The Stinky Cheese Man) and Dav Pilkey (Captain Underpants—will read from a new collection of original ghost stories at “Terrifying Tales,” a Halloween-themed installment of Symphony Space’s Thalia Kids’ Book Club series, co-presented with Bank Street Bookstore. In addition to the readings, this afternoon of spooky fun will include a costume contest, an audience Q&A, and a writing activity where kids will have the opportunity to draft their own scary story. $15 for non-members, $12 for members; 4pm. Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway at 95th Street, 212-864-5400, symphonyspace.org

New York Cosmos NASL Championship Semifinal at MCU Park

November 7 [All Ages] Mark your calendars for this end-of-season soccer blowout, as the New York Cosmos host the North American Soccer League postseason championship game at MCU Park in Coney Island, home of the Brooklyn Cyclones! You won’t want to miss the chance to see top players like Raúl González Blanco, the record-breaking former Real Madrid forward, at this intimate venue. Tickets start at $15, 2pm. MCU Park, 1904 Surf Avenue, Brooklyn, nycosmos.com