Old Westbury Gardens — Family Picnic Sundays
Old Westbury Gardens' summer Sunday picnic concerts on the West Pond lawn. Family-pricing ($15 adult, $10 ages 4-15), classical + swing acts rotating weekly, abundant lawn space for blankets, the Children's Garden + maze 3 minutes from the music. The LI family Sunday-afternoon default.
Old Westbury Gardens’ summer Sunday picnic concerts are the LI family Sunday-afternoon default. Family-pricing, abundant lawn space, classical + swing music rotating weekly, and a 200-acre Gilded Age estate to roam when the kids need a break.
Why it works for families:
- Family-pricing: $15 adult, $10 ages 4-15, under-4 free
- Bring your own picnic — the venue encourages it
- Children’s Garden + maze are 3 min walk from the concert lawn — kids age out of the music, parents send them off
- Lawn seating means no chair-bound fidgeting; under-5s play, older kids read
- Free abundant parking — no fight for spots
- Restrooms are fully family-equipped throughout the grounds
Best family-day template:
- Arrive 1 PM, eat picnic lunch on the lawn
- 1:30 PM: Children’s Garden play (60-90 min)
- 3 PM: Concert begins; settle in
- 5 PM: Concert ends or you bail when kids tap out
- 5-6 PM: Walk the formal gardens (older kids appreciate; younger kids tire)
- Home by 7 PM
Best paired with: a Sayville Farmers Market morning + Old Westbury Gardens afternoon — the LI family Sunday at its best.
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Read before you go
- town spotlight Sayville Village: A Local's Guide for 2026 Sayville Village — the South Shore walkable downtown that locals refuse to gentrify, with restored 19th-century Main Street, the Sayville Cab Company since 1958, the Sayville Restaurant Group anchors (Casa Luis, Cull House), the Saturday Farmers Market on Foster Avenue, the Fire Island ferry terminal at the harbor, and an annual event calendar that runs from Memorial Weekend Classic Car Show through Holiday Stroll. Walking distance from the LIRR. The slow-paced South Shore village that works.
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- seasonal What We're Tracking: The Long Island Summer 2026 Calendar Takes Shape The Editors' Memorial Weekend reset on what we're tracking for Long Island summer 2026. Programming announcements, venue updates, the new restaurants worth a drive, the festivals that bumped their dates, and the East End rhythm shifts. Updated weekly through Labor Day.