free things to do in New York City
Free events for Monday, 04/20/26
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Free Events, Free Things to Do in New York City!  Read More

Are you looking for free things to do in New York City (NYC) on April 20, 2026?

22 free events take place on Monday, April 20 in New York City. Don't miss the opportunities that only New York provides! Exciting, high quality, unique and off the beaten path free events and free things to do take place in New York today, tonight, tomorrow and each day of the year, any time of the day: whether it's a weekday or a weekend, day or night, morning or evening or afternoon, December or July, April or November! These events will take your breath away!

New York City (NYC) never ceases to amaze you with quantity and quality of its free culture and free entertainment. Check out April 20 and see for yourself. Summer or Winter, Spring or Fall! Just click on any day of the calendar above and you'll find most inspiring and entertaining free events to go to and free things to do on each day of April . Don't miss the opportunities that only New York provides!

Some events take place all year long: same day of the week, same time there are there for you to take advantage of. One of the oldest free weekly events in Manhattan is Dixieland Jazz with the Gotham Jazzmen, which happen at noon every Tuesday. Another example of an event that you can attend all year round on weekdays is Federal Reserve Bank Tour, which takes place every week day at 1 pm (but advanced reservations are required). You can take at least 13 free tours every day of the year, except the New Year Day, July 4th, and the Christmas Day. If you are classical music afficionado, you can spend whole day in New York going from one free classical concert to another. If you love theater, then New York gives you an option to attend plays and musicals free of charge, or at deep discount. You just need to have information about it. And we are here to make that information available to you.
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The quality and quantity of
free events,
free things to do
that happen in New York City
every day of the year
is truly amazing.

So don't miss the opportunities
that only New York provides:
stop wondering what to do;
start taking advantage of
free events to go to,
free things to do in NYC
today!

22 free things to do in New York City (NYC) on Monday, April 20, 2026

All events are free unless otherwise noted.
        

Birdwatching | Discover Urban Birds with Naturalists


Participate with BPCA naturalists as they explore the park, and see what makes this spot a hangout for urban birds and marvelous migrators! Binoculars and field guides provided, or bring your own.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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9:30 am
Free
Birdwatchings, April 20, 2026, 04/20/2026, Discover Urban Birds with Naturalists

Workshop | Start the Day with Morning Meditation


Start your day by balancing your mind, body, and spirit during instructor guided meditation. This renowned practice lowers blood pressure, reduces stress, and strengthens the immune system.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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9:45 am
Free
Workshops, April 20, 2026, 04/20/2026, Start the Day with Morning Meditation

Workshop | Dance Workout for Cathartic Release (Beginners Welcome)


Experience bodyroll, a dance practice pulsing with pure joy. Classes ignite embodied empowerment and energize a cathartic release. The experience is designed to alchemize a playful perspective for rolling, releasing, and reinventing yourself. Together, the group will tap into the spiral rave through body rolling, movement energetix, embodiment practices, and aerobic dancing. No dance experience needed!
   New York City, NY; NYC
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10:00 am
Free
Workshops, April 20, 2026, 04/20/2026, Dance Workout for Cathartic Release (Beginners Welcome)

Museums | Exploring Art, History, and Global Cultures in a Landmark Museum


Spend time exploring a world-renowned collection spanning centuries of art, design, and cultural history. From ancient artifacts to iconic masterpieces, these galleries invite slow looking, discovery, and reflection across works that connect global traditions, artistic innovation, and human stories. Note: Some galleries are closed for installation. 
   New York City, NY; NYC
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10:00 am
pay-what-you-wish for NY...
Museumss, April 20, 2026, 04/20/2026, Exploring Art, History, and Global Cultures in a Landmark Museum

Workshop | Learn to Juggle, All Skill Levels Welcome


This juggling class is ideal for a quick lesson, an extended practice session, or just enjoy watching jugglers put their skills to the test. They're a friendly group and open to drop-ins, even if you catch them outside of the regular juggling lessons. All skill levels welcome. Equipment is provided.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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12:00 pm
Free
Workshops, April 20, 2026, 04/20/2026, Learn to Juggle, All Skill Levels Welcome

Jazz | Acclaimed Pianist Performs Swing, Blues, & Avant-Garde Tunes


Prolific pianist Orrin Evans blends swing, blues, and avant-garde music. He has built a renowned career defined by his extensive stylistic range, blending swing, blues, and avant-garde influences. Known for pushing the envelope and for his fierce independence -- none of his 25 records were backed by a major label -- Evans, who is also a composer and bandleader, explains himself best: "I like to stretch out. Wherever the music takes me, I'm going there."
   New York City, NY; NYC
1:00 pm
Free
Concerts, April 20, 2026, 04/20/2026, Acclaimed Pianist Performs Swing, Blues, & Avant-Garde Tunes

Party | Fiber/Textile Arts Meetup


Are you a knitter? Do you like to crochet? Maybe you like a different type of fiber art? Whichever it is, bring your supplies and lose yourself in the meditative world of creating art with fiber. Invite your friends, or make new connections there. This is a meet-up, not a class.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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1:00 pm
Free
Partys, April 20, 2026, 04/20/2026, Fiber/Textile Arts Meetup

Workshop | Intermediate Photo Editing


In this workshop, you will learn slightly more advanced editing methods than basic adjustments. Instructors will add mood to images using various tools and clean up images using basic corrective editing techniques such as clone stamping, masking, and spot removal.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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4:30 pm
Free
Workshops, April 20, 2026, 04/20/2026, Intermediate Photo Editing

Museums | Historical and Modern Design Spanning Centuries


The museum is dedicated to showcasing the history, influence, and importance of design in everyday life. Housed in a historic mansion, the museum features a diverse collection of design objects, including decorative arts, architecture, graphic design, textiles, and industrial design.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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5:00 pm
pay-what-you-wish from 5pm...
Museumss, April 20, 2026, 04/20/2026, Historical and Modern Design Spanning Centuries

Book Discussion | Joint Book Launch with UN Scholars


The Ralph Bunche Institute hosts a joint book launch event with the top experts on UN politics.  Presenters: Lukas Haynes, RBI Visiting Scholar, discussing Peace Through Power: FDR’s Military Leaders and the Pragmatism of the UN Charter Tapio Kanninen, RBI Senior Fellow, discussing Revitalizing the United Nations: Making and Keeping the Peace
   New York City, NY; NYC
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5:00 pm
Free
Book Discussions, April 20, 2026, 04/20/2026, Joint Book Launch with UN Scholars

Film | Million Dollar Mermaid (1952): Technicolor Biographical Musical Drama


An MGM Technicolor water-musical-spectacular biopic of Australian swimmer Annette Kellerman. After overcoming polio, Kellerman achieves fame and creates a scandal when her one-piece bathing suit is considered indecent. Director: Mervyn LeRoy Cast: Esther Williams, Victor Mature, Walter Pidgeon
   New York City, NY; NYC
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5:30 pm
Free
Films, April 20, 2026, 04/20/2026, Million Dollar Mermaid (1952): Technicolor Biographical Musical Drama

Discussion | Choreographer & Historian Explore Personal History through Movement


In this event, choreographer Meredith Dincolo and historian Tara Zahra explore the artistic process and methodological challenges of researching and creating personal histories through movement. Can we “write” history through movement rather than words? What histories and knowledge do our bodies archive and express? 
   New York City, NY; NYC
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5:30 pm
Free
Discussions, April 20, 2026, 04/20/2026, Choreographer & Historian Explore Personal History through Movement

Book Discussion | Explore the Photography of Michel Hurst


Enjoy a conversation with Chris Wiley, Nan Goldin, and Robert Swope to celebrate the debut book of late photographer Michel Hurst, Michel Hurst: Órale: Love and Death in Mexico City, a collection of photographs made in and around his adopted home of Mexico City over a period of 8 years.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:00 pm
Free
Book Discussions, April 20, 2026, 04/20/2026, Explore the Photography of&nbsp;Michel Hurst

Workshop | Learn & Practice Chess with an Expert


Learn to play chess or develop your strategies with chess expert Tamar Chanadiri from the Marshall Chess Club. Participants are encouraged to attend all sessions, as each one builds on the previous. Bring a friend or join on your own--all levels and ages are welcome! Chess sets are provided but you're welcome to bring your own. From 6-7 PM Tamar will provide instruction for beginner-level players. From 7-8 PM there will be open play for all levels.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:00 pm
Free
Workshops, April 20, 2026, 04/20/2026, Learn & Practice Chess with an Expert

Discussion | Panel Talk on Ballerina  Alexandra Danilova Life & Art


Here to discuss prima ballerina Alexandra Danilova's many lives is a panel that represents these different aspects of “Choura,” as she was known. Patricia McBride, former NYCB principal, will discuss how Coppelia was set on her by Danilova; former NYCB principal Maria Calegari will talk about being Mme. Danilova’s student who was taught her favorite roles for Workshop productions; Kim Kokich, Danilova’s goddaughter, will speak of her relationship with Choura, and share her memories and anecdotes. Elizabeth Kendall, dance historian and author who has written about Danilova’s early years in two books about Balanchine, will moderate. Presented in conjunction with The George Balanchine Foundation.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:00 pm
Free
Discussions, April 20, 2026, 04/20/2026, Panel Talk on Ballerina&nbsp; Alexandra Danilova Life & Art

Book Discussion | Romantics Expert Discusses His New Book, Towards a Premodern Posthumanism (In Person AND Online!)


In this lecture, Professor Chad Cordova will be sharing insights from his recent book Towards a Premodern Posthumanism. What good is aesthetics in a time of ecological crisis? Toward a Premodern Posthumanism: Anarchic Ontologies of Earthly Life in Early Modern France shows that philosophical aesthetics contains unheeded potentialities for challenging the ontological subjection of nature to the human subject. Drawing on deconstructive, ecological, and biopolitical thought, Chad Córdova uncovers in aesthetics something irreducible to humanist metaphysics: an account of how beings emerge and are interrelated, responsive, and even response-able without reason or why.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:00 pm
Free
Book Discussions, April 20, 2026, 04/20/2026, Romantics Expert Discusses His New Book,&nbsp;Towards a Premodern Posthumanism (In Person AND Online!)

Screening | Die Geträumten (The Dreamed Ones) (2016): Austrian Documentary (+ Filmmaker Discussion)


Experience a screening of Die Geträumten (The Dreamed Ones) by Austrian filmmaker Ruth Beckermann. The evening will include a post-screening discussion on Ingeborg Bachmann’s life and legacy with Asma Abbas and Nick Pinkerton. Centered on the correspondence between Austrian writer Ingeborg Bachmann and Romanian-born poet Paul Celan, Die Geträumten explores the emotional terrain of love, distance, and intellectual intimacy in postwar Vienna. Their letters, brought to life by actors in a recording studio, reveal a relationship shaped by longing, tension, and historical rupture. As past and present intertwine, the film captures how language, memory, and desire blur across time—placing Austrian literary history at its emotional and cultural core. Director: Ruth Beckermann
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:30 pm
Free
Screenings, April 20, 2026, 04/20/2026, Die Getr&auml;umten (The Dreamed Ones) (2016): Austrian Documentary (+ Filmmaker Discussion)

Book Discussion | Biographer Shares His Book, Devouring Time: Jim Harrison, A Writer's Life (In Person AND Online!)


Author Todd Goddard sits down to discuss his book Devouring Time: Jim Harrison, A Writer's Life, a definitive biography of one of America's most beloved writers, with prize-winning Irish novelist Colum McCann. Jim Harrison (1937-2016) was widely considered one of the finest voices of his generation. His twenty-one books of fiction and fourteen books of poetry influenced a generation of writers. Harrison helped to shape the course of contemporary American literature, revitalizing in particular the novella form, of which he was a recognized master.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:30 pm
Free
Book Discussions, April 20, 2026, 04/20/2026, Biographer Shares His Book, Devouring Time: Jim Harrison, A Writer's Life (In Person AND Online!)

Discussion | Discover Encores! Musical Theater Series, Talk with Creators


Explore Encores!, the Tony Award-winning series of musical theater revivals that have been happening for more than 30 years at New York's City Center. Michael S. Rosenberg (President and CEO) and Jenny Gersten (Vice President and Artistic Director of Musical Theater) reveal the storied past and dynamic future of Manhattan’s first performing arts center. And in keeping with the performance venue, rare performance clips will be shown. The guests will discuss how the Encores! series has evolved from its 1994 debut with Fiorello! to the record-breaking production of Chicago, to the upcoming La Cage Aux Folles. They will also dive into the "musical archaeology" required to restore lost scores, a process that allows audiences to hear works exactly as their creators intended.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:30 pm
Free
Discussions, April 20, 2026, 04/20/2026, Discover Encores!&nbsp;Musical Theater Series, Talk with Creators

Staged Reading | Excerpts from New Play in Translation: Shadows, of Course (+ Panel with Artists & Presenters)


Experience an evening celebrating New York's artistic exchange of Buenos Aires in New York with Romina Paula, one of Argentina's most celebrated playwrights and filmmakers. In her work Paula breaks down barriers of artistic genres, while investigating the synergies between documentary and fiction, gender and biography, and love and art. Paula will direct excerpts of her new play Shadows, of Course (Sombras, por supuesto), a translation-in-progress by April Sweeney and Brenda Werth. Followed by a panel with artists and presenters of the Buenos Aires/New York Artistic Exchange, moderated by Frank Hentschker. Reception to follow.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:30 pm
Free
Staged Readings, April 20, 2026, 04/20/2026, Excerpts from New Play in Translation: Shadows, of Course (+ Panel with Artists & Presenters)

Dance Performance | Dance Works-in-Progress


A high visibility low-tech forum for experimentation, emerging ideas, and works-in-progress held in the Fall and Spring seasons. Artists are selected by a rotating committee of peer artists.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:00 pm
Free
Dance Performances, April 20, 2026, 04/20/2026, Dance Works-in-Progress

Workshop | Drawing from a Distance: Light, Space & Sculpture (Online!)


Examine fixed-perspective films that feature spaces where light shifts and nature actively interacts with sculpture. Learn introductory drawing techniques and settle into a flow as you create a long sketch. Reflect on drawings and discuss the integration between art, space, and time. No previous experience required.  Materials Needed: Pencils, an eraser, and paper.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:30 pm
Free
Workshops, April 20, 2026, 04/20/2026, Drawing from a Distance: Light, Space & Sculpture (Online!)
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Complimentary Tickets

to shows, concerts ... (CFT Deals!)

Classical Music | Easter Concert of Choral Works at a Landmark Venue

Regular Price: $50
CFT Member Price: $0.00

Play | Tony Nominee in a Play From a Broadway Director

Regular Price: $61
CFT Member Price: $0.00

Jazz | Jazz, Pop, R&B at One of the World's Most Famous Venues

Regular Price: $45
CFT Member Price: $0.00