Museum Mile Festival: Nine Museums, One Free Night

Museum Mile is the name given to the stretch of Fifth Avenue between 82nd and 105th Streets, in Manhattan's Upper East Side.

It's an area packed with museums and cultural centers, from the famous Met to El Museo del Barrio.

The name is symbolic: it isn't exactly a mile long, but it does bring together a range of institutions that represent the best of New York's art, design and history.

What is Museum Mile?

Every museum on the mile is worth exploring, but you'll need several days (or several trips 😉) because there are a lot of them. Here they are, listed from south to north:

From south to north, these are the museums that make up Museum Mile and take part in the annual festival:

• The Metropolitan Museum of Art, at 82nd Street
• Neue Galerie New York, on 86th Street
• The Guggenheim, on 88th Street
• Cooper-Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, 91st Street, between 5th Ave and Madison Ave.
• The Jewish Museum, between 92nd and 93rd Streets
• The Museum of the City of New York, at 103rd Street.
• El Museo del Barrio on 104th Street
• The Africa Center on 109th Street

Museum Mile Festival 2025

On the second Tuesday of June each year, the Museum Mile Festival takes place, an annual event where you can visit the most famous museums on the Upper East Side for free between 6 and 9 pm (check out more events in New York in June).

This year the Festival is on Tuesday, June 10, 2025, from 6 to 9 pm, marking the 47th edition of the Museum Mile Festival.

For those three hours, the museums along Fifth Avenue open their doors for free and the street turns into one big cultural block party, with activities for all ages, live music and food stands.

The event happens rain or shine, so bring an umbrella if the sky looks threatening. It's a great chance to get into museums like the Guggenheim or the Museum of the City of New York without paying admission.

It's also a chance to enjoy Fifth Avenue without traffic, since the street is closed during the event and becomes a giant pedestrian promenade.

The Museum Mile Festival started in 1978 as an initiative to bring art closer to the public. It has since become a New York tradition with more than a million visitors over the years.

Visiting New York Museums for Free

If you're not in New York on the day of the festival, there are other ways to save:

Many museums offer free admission on certain days or at certain hours. It's worth checking each museum's official website before you go.

You can also use discount tourist passes like the New York Pass, CityPASS, Sightseeing Pass or Go City, which include admission to several museums for one fixed price.