The best Columbus Day events in NYC

He may be one of the most famous failures in history, but 35,000 marchers and nearly 1 million spectators are expected along Fifth Avenue to mark the day when Christopher Columbus landed in the Americas and to celebrate the heritage of the Italian-American community. Sure, it isn’t New York’s glitziest parade, but where else can you catch the tarantella, a frenzied Italian folk dance? Fifth Ave from 44th St to 72nd St.

Head to the ever-beautiful St. Patrick’s Cathedral for a special mass, which reflects on the men, women and children who, like Columbus, traveled to America in pursuit of freedom and new opportunities.

Federal holidays are the perfect excuse to revamp your wardrobe and swap out past-season duds for new threads. Sure, you could check out killer Columbus Day sales online, but why not hunt for discounts at the Shops at Columbus Circle, and tip your hat to the statue of Christopher Columbus while you’re there?

Join Redhawk, the Native American Arts Council of NYC, for a community reclamation of Columbus Day. Local chiefs —like Harry Wallace of the Unkechaug Indian Nation on Long Island—join musicians, spoken-word performers and artists on the grass. Look out for multimedia pieces from Bronx-based Intikana, percussion from Caribbean-originated Kasibahagua Taino Cultural Society and more.

Stranger Things’ resident police babe David Harbour and Hamilton’s Javier Muñoz take the hot seat in this live edition of the NPR quiz show.

Alternate between body-weight exercises and painting—yes, actual painting, with an easel and stuff—at this outdoor class designed to energize your body and mind.

Assemble a team of up to four pre-teen Goonies and gather to solve the mysteries of the Upside Down, Silkwood-era haircuts government science conspiracies. Try not to devolve into too many arguments during the rounds of hardcore trivia: you might anger any telekinetic patrons of the bar.

Even if the sidewalks are overrun with tourists, you’ll have ample room to skate at the city’s most iconic rink; only 150 people are allowed on the ice at once. That also means that by the time Thanksgiving hits you should prepare for painfully long lines. So when the rink first opens in mid October, make like Chicagoans when voting—go early and often.

This is happening. Hot on the heels of his Thank You For Being a Friend live show, Jonathan Rockefeller unveils an all-new stage tribute to Miami’s fab four, with puppets. Relive the big-earringed, heavy-sleeved glory of Dorothy, Blanche, Rose and Sophia through darling felt effigies at this love letter to one of the greatest (and gayest) TV series of all time.

If you yearn for a time when CBGB was not a hopelessly depressing restaurant in the Newark Liberty International Airport, you’re in luck. The photographs of David Godlis, a fixture of the legendary punk club and a faithful chronicler of the musicians who frequented it (like the Ramones, Patti Smith and Blondie), are on display downtown. The images are part of Godlis’s fine art book of the same name, which you can also pick up at the gallery.