Big Umbrella Festival

From April 4–20, 2025, Big Umbrella Festival welcomes kids, teens, and adults for a dynamic series of programming over three weekends, designed with and for neurodiverse audiences. Audiences can design their own festival weekend by booking tickets below to individual events. Polyglot Theatre and Oily Cart present When the World Turns, an immersive theatrical experience that celebrates the senses, inviting audiences into a wondrous landscape of foliage, light, sounds, and shadows. Peruvian theater company Teatro La Plaza reinvents Shakespeare’s Hamlet into a joyful and enigmatic production where the stories of people with Down syndrome take center stage. Young children and families are invited to explore, move, and create with SecondHand Dance’s The Sticky Dance: For Sensory Groovers and at the participatory Magical Miniature World Workshop. Plus, the renowned ReelAbilities Film Festival—the largest festival in the world dedicated to films by and about people with disabilities—returns with a comedy night; and the Chamber Music Society offers two relaxed CMS Kids musical events, created for children with autism and sensory disorders. Find more events for Kids, Teens, and Families throughout the year!

 
 

Build Your Own Festival

April 04 at 12:30 pm

Big Umbrella Festival
Kids, Teens, and Families

When the World Turns

Polyglot Theatre and Oily Cart

Lincoln Center Presents

April 04 at 12:30 pm

Clark Studio Theater, Rose Building

Become part of a wild place of the senses where you can see, hear, touch, smell, and feel this living, breathing world as it reveals itself.

April 04 at 3:30 pm

Big Umbrella Festival
Kids, Teens, and Families

When the World Turns

Polyglot Theatre and Oily Cart

Lincoln Center Presents

April 04 at 3:30 pm

Clark Studio Theater, Rose Building

Become part of a wild place of the senses where you can see, hear, touch, smell, and feel this living, breathing world as it reveals itself.

April 04 at 8:00 pm

Big Umbrella Festival
Kids, Teens, and Families

Comedy Night With ReelAbilities

Lincoln Center Presents

April 04 at 8:00 pm

Kaplan Penthouse, Rose Building

The largest festival in the world dedicated to showcasing ground-breaking work by and about people with disabilities returns.

April 05 at 11:00 am

Big Umbrella Festival
Kids, Teens, and Families

CMS Kids: Moving Music

Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
Lincoln Center Presents

April 05 at 11:00 am

CMS Rose Studio, Rose Building

Join us for a melodious CMS Kids journey with Big Umbrella Festival, where music moves and melodies contour through the air!

April 05 at 12:30 pm

Big Umbrella Festival
Kids, Teens, and Families

When the World Turns

Polyglot Theatre and Oily Cart

Lincoln Center Presents

April 05 at 12:30 pm

Clark Studio Theater, Rose Building

Become part of a wild place of the senses where you can see, hear, touch, smell, and feel this living, breathing world as it reveals itself.

April 05 at 1:00 pm

Big Umbrella Festival
Kids, Teens, and Families

CMS Kids: Moving Music

Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
Lincoln Center Presents

April 05 at 1:00 pm

CMS Rose Studio, Rose Building

Join us for a melodious CMS Kids journey with Big Umbrella Festival, where music moves and melodies contour through the air!

April 05 at 3:30 pm

Big Umbrella Festival
Kids, Teens, and Families

When the World Turns

Polyglot Theatre and Oily Cart

Lincoln Center Presents

April 05 at 3:30 pm

Clark Studio Theater, Rose Building

Become part of a wild place of the senses where you can see, hear, touch, smell, and feel this living, breathing world as it reveals itself.

April 06 at 12:30 pm

Big Umbrella Festival
Kids, Teens, and Families

When the World Turns

Polyglot Theatre and Oily Cart

Lincoln Center Presents

April 06 at 12:30 pm

Clark Studio Theater, Rose Building

Become part of a wild place of the senses where you can see, hear, touch, smell, and feel this living, breathing world as it reveals itself.

April 06 at 3:30 pm

Big Umbrella Festival
Kids, Teens, and Families

When the World Turns

Polyglot Theatre and Oily Cart

Lincoln Center Presents

April 06 at 3:30 pm

Clark Studio Theater, Rose Building

Become part of a wild place of the senses where you can see, hear, touch, smell, and feel this living, breathing world as it reveals itself.

April 11 at 11:00 am

Big Umbrella Festival
Kids, Teens, and Families

SecondHand Dance’s The Sticky Dance

For Sensory Groovers

Lincoln Center Presents

April 11 at 11:00 am

Samuel Rehearsal Studio, Rose Building

Participate in an interactive dance performance installation designed for neurodiverse children.

April 11 at 12:30 pm

Big Umbrella Festival
Kids, Teens, and Families

When the World Turns

Polyglot Theatre and Oily Cart

Lincoln Center Presents

April 11 at 12:30 pm

Clark Studio Theater, Rose Building

Become part of a wild place of the senses where you can see, hear, touch, smell, and feel this living, breathing world as it reveals itself.

April 11 at 2:00 pm

Big Umbrella Festival
Kids, Teens, and Families

SecondHand Dance’s The Sticky Dance

For Sensory Groovers

Lincoln Center Presents

April 11 at 2:00 pm

Samuel Rehearsal Studio, Rose Building

Participate in an interactive dance performance installation designed for neurodiverse children.

April 11 at 3:30 pm

Big Umbrella Festival
Kids, Teens, and Families

When the World Turns

Polyglot Theatre and Oily Cart

Lincoln Center Presents

April 11 at 3:30 pm

Clark Studio Theater, Rose Building

Become part of a wild place of the senses where you can see, hear, touch, smell, and feel this living, breathing world as it reveals itself.

April 12 at 11:00 am

Big Umbrella Festival
Kids, Teens, and Families

SecondHand Dance’s The Sticky Dance

For Sensory Groovers

Lincoln Center Presents

April 12 at 11:00 am

Samuel Rehearsal Studio, Rose Building

Participate in an interactive dance performance installation designed for neurodiverse children.

April 12 at 12:30 pm

Big Umbrella Festival
Kids, Teens, and Families

When the World Turns

Polyglot Theatre and Oily Cart

Lincoln Center Presents

April 12 at 12:30 pm

Clark Studio Theater, Rose Building

Become part of a wild place of the senses where you can see, hear, touch, smell, and feel this living, breathing world as it reveals itself.

April 12 at 2:00 pm

Big Umbrella Festival
Kids, Teens, and Families

SecondHand Dance’s The Sticky Dance

For Sensory Groovers

Lincoln Center Presents

April 12 at 2:00 pm

Samuel Rehearsal Studio, Rose Building

Participate in an interactive dance performance installation designed for neurodiverse children.

April 12 at 3:30 pm

Big Umbrella Festival
Kids, Teens, and Families

When the World Turns

Polyglot Theatre and Oily Cart

Lincoln Center Presents

April 12 at 3:30 pm

Clark Studio Theater, Rose Building

Become part of a wild place of the senses where you can see, hear, touch, smell, and feel this living, breathing world as it reveals itself.

April 13 at 11:00 am

Big Umbrella Festival
Kids, Teens, and Families

Magical Miniature World Workshop

Lincoln Center Presents

April 13 at 11:00 am

Kaplan Penthouse, Rose Building

Create your own magical miniature world with accessible art-making materials; then bring it to life!

April 13 at 11:00 am

Big Umbrella Festival
Kids, Teens, and Families

SecondHand Dance’s The Sticky Dance

For Sensory Groovers

Lincoln Center Presents

April 13 at 11:00 am

Samuel Rehearsal Studio, Rose Building

Participate in an interactive dance performance installation designed for neurodiverse children.

April 13 at 12:30 pm

Big Umbrella Festival
Kids, Teens, and Families

When the World Turns

Polyglot Theatre and Oily Cart

Lincoln Center Presents

April 13 at 12:30 pm

Clark Studio Theater, Rose Building

Become part of a wild place of the senses where you can see, hear, touch, smell, and feel this living, breathing world as it reveals itself.

April 13 at 2:00 pm

Big Umbrella Festival
Kids, Teens, and Families

SecondHand Dance’s The Sticky Dance

For Sensory Groovers

Lincoln Center Presents

April 13 at 2:00 pm

Samuel Rehearsal Studio, Rose Building

Participate in an interactive dance performance installation designed for neurodiverse children.

April 13 at 2:00 pm

Big Umbrella Festival
Kids, Teens, and Families

Magical Miniature World Workshop

Lincoln Center Presents

April 13 at 2:00 pm

Kaplan Penthouse, Rose Building

Create your own magical miniature world with accessible art-making materials; then bring it to life!

April 13 at 3:30 pm

Big Umbrella Festival
Kids, Teens, and Families

When the World Turns

Polyglot Theatre and Oily Cart

Lincoln Center Presents

April 13 at 3:30 pm

Clark Studio Theater, Rose Building

Become part of a wild place of the senses where you can see, hear, touch, smell, and feel this living, breathing world as it reveals itself.

April 19 at 2:00 pm

Big Umbrella Festival
Kids, Teens, and Families

Hamlet

By Teatro La Plaza

Lincoln Center Presents

April 19 at 2:00 pm

Alice Tully Hall

In this retelling of Shakespeare performed in Spanish, the stories of people with Down syndrome take center stage.

April 19 at 7:30 pm

Big Umbrella Festival
Kids, Teens, and Families

Hamlet

By Teatro La Plaza

Lincoln Center Presents

April 19 at 7:30 pm

Alice Tully Hall

In this retelling of Shakespeare performed in Spanish, the stories of people with Down syndrome take center stage.

Thanks to Our Supporters

Lead support for educational programming is provided by Anonymous

Support for the Big Umbrella Festival is provided by The Taft Foundation, Esme Usdan and James Snyder, New York City Council Member Gale Brewer, and by public funds facilitated by New York City Council’s Autism Awareness Initiative