42 THE QUEENS COURIER • KIDS & EDUCATION • MARCH 28, 2019 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
kids & education
Photos courtesy of Queens County Farm Museum
Get country at Queens County farm festival
More than 300 years aft er its colonial
beginnings, Queens County Farm
Museum remains a vital resource connecting
people to agriculture and the
environment creating conversations
about science, biodiversity, nutrition,
health and wellness, climate change and
preserving local history.
Th e farm welcomes over 400,000 visitors
annually making it the second largest
cultural institution in Queens. Visitors
enjoy free daily admission (except for
special event days) to stroll the grounds,
tour the historic 18th-century farmhouse
(weekends), meet the farm’s livestock and
enjoy the growing fi elds as the seasons
change. Th e farm’s Children’s Garden
off ers a cozy place to connect to nature
and learn a little something too.
Th e farm’s iconic special event schedule
begins in April this year. Th e Apple
Blossom Children’s Carnival is scheduled
for Saturday and Sunday, April 6 & 7
and April 13 & 14 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Advance tickets are $15 for all ages and
include carnival rides. It’s a great event
for the entire family. Th e farm’s Barnyard
Egg Hunt is on Saturday, April 20 from 11
a.m. to 3 p.m. It has been dubbed the best
egg hunt in Queens.
We hear that Whiskers the Bunny will
be hopping by. Advance tickets for the
egg hunt are $10 for all ages.
Monday, April 22 is Earth Day during
NYC’s Department of Education Spring
Break. Th e farm will feature its Bee A
Pollinator Program from noon to 3:30
p.m. Advance tickets are $10 for kids
(grown-ups are free with participating
children) and includes beeswax candle
making and a seed ball project to grow
your own wildfl owers and food for honey
bees. Th e Bee A Pollinator Program also
includes bee talks in the farm’s apiary and
a tractor-drawn hayride.
At 3:30 pm, the farm will transplant six
American chestnut trees in a ceremony on
the farm’s grounds weather permitting.
Queens Farm’s annual Sheep Shearing
Festival is on Saturday, May 11, from
11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Th e farm’s sheep will
get their much-needed spring “haircuts”
for all to see. Visitors will enjoy the
foot-stomping rhythms of bluegrass duo
Coyote & Crow along with farmer-led
tours that detail the growing practices and
mission of the farm across its 47-acre site.
Th e fi ber arts will be celebrated at the
festival through craft -making activities
and demonstrations in needle-felting,
yarn dyeing, wool spinning, weaving
and patchwork quilting. Th ere will
be hayrides and tasty local food on the
farm all day along with the always popular
Adopt-a-Worm composting program
at the Con Edison Ecology Booth. New
this year, Queens’ own Bridge & Tunnel
Brewery will host a Beer Garden with featured
brews for Sheep Shearing Festival.
Advance tickets for the farm’s Sheep
Shearing Festival are $5.
Queens County Farm Museum is located
at 73-50 Little Neck Parkway in Floral
Park, Queens. It is open daily year-round
from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., except major holidays
and special event days. Visit queensfarm.
org for more information or to purchase
special event tickets. Queens Farm
event tickets are sold in advance. Limited
door tickets are available for some events.
/WWW.QNS.COM
