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New York City is no stranger to some of the most stunning light shows in the country during the holiday season. But this winter, a new light show coming to Queens may just raise the bar entirely. 

Tianyu Lights Festival will make its NYC debut adjacent to Citi Field between November 14, 2024 and January 12, 2025. The festival combines traditional Chinese artistry with light sculptures and new technology, providing visitors with a truly immersive cultural experience. Tianyu Arts & Culture has previously produced over 85 festivals across the U.S. in the past decade and is ready to tackle NYC’s already rich history of holiday light displays. 

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But behind the lights and sculptures is the storyline that inspires the entire festival: Koda’s Adventure. A 7-year-old boy, Koda, has just returned from journeying to the Amazon rainforest. The plants and animals that visitors will see, sprinkled with magical elements, are from Koda’s own memories and imagination. As visitors wander through the light show, they will piece together Koda’s dream fragments, with chances to uncover clues and win prizes. Of course, this means lots of photo ops, too.  

Behind the lit-up trees and magical animals of Koda’s dreams lie the team that brought the festival to life, comprised of Chinese lantern artists and video game designers—all of who have been commissioned to design and create installations made with steel, LED lights, and other colorful fabrics. Their goal? To produce the most immersive live gaming experience for people from all walks of life and of all ages. What’s a more fitting place to do so than NYC?

But that’s not all. There will also be live performances of traditional Chinese plucked string instruments, dances, and artwork of various traditional Chinese styles. If that’s not enough, you can also visit the Magical Forest Marketplace and find panda-themed items and light-up paintings for purchase. And if you’re hungry, you can stop by the Forest Food Court for a selection of food and beverage options. 

“We are thrilled to make our debut in New York City’s cultural epicenter during this year’s holiday season,” said Huiyuan Liu, event manager of Tianyu Arts & Culture, in a press release. “Bringing our lights festival to New York City, a metropolitan renowned for its diverse cultures and communities, allows us to showcase traditional Chinese lanterns in a whole new light—our lantern installations are technologically advanced, have different layers of tech and innovations built into them, and are incredibly beautiful.”

The light show is open from 5pm to 10pm, with the last entry at 9pm. It is closed on November 19, December 9, December 16, December 20, and January 6. Tickets are available from September 2. 

* This article was originally published here

It’s the most wonderful time of the year… for kids under 18 years old.

The beloved Kids’ Night on Broadway celebration, when all children under the age of 18 can catch a show for free when accompanied by a full-paying adult, is officially back on August 20.

“Kids’ Night on Broadway is back this summer creating a wonderful occasion for children, teens, and families to experience a night out in New York City and enjoy a Broadway show,” said Jason Laks, the interim President of the Broadway League, in an official statement. “Featuring a variety of 19 extraordinary shows, Kids’ Night on Broadway creates an opportunity to introduce younger audiences to live theatre and cultivate their interest and enjoyment of the arts from an early age.”

Talk about an early Christmas present.

As usual, the offer will be applied as a 50% discount off each ticket that is purchased as a pair. So you’re technically not getting a free pass, but two half-priced ones.

The activation also includes in-theater special programming like talks, art projects, sing-alongs and exclusive discounts at restaurants around town. 

No word yet on when the tickets will go on sale but we suggest you sign up for the (free!) Broadway Fan Club right here to hear about specific details as soon as they are made public. 

Below is a list of the participating shows and, just in case you need some help deciding what to go for, here is our list best Broadway shows right now: 

Aladdin
& Juliet
Back to the Future: The Musical
Chicago
The Great Gatsby (this performance will take place on August 21)
Hadestown
Hamilton
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Hell’s Kitchen
The Lion King
MJ The Musical
Moulin Rouge! The Musical
The Notebook
Once Upon a Mattress
The Outsiders
Six
Suffs
Water for Elephants
Wicked

* This article was originally published here

It is no surprise that booking a table in New York is no joke—our constant Resy alerts confirm this. But Dojo dropped its list of the hardest tables to get and, somehow, only two restaurants are in New York.

According to the restaurant booking website, the waiting times are based on how long customers can be expected to wait for a table to become available, including restaurants that release tables in waves and others having a backlog due to Coronavirus-related closures.

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Over 100 miles north of Manhattan lies the number two spot on the list: Damon Baeherel (76 Co Hwy 45, Earlton). Since 1989, chef Damon Baerehel has run this solo operation out of his own home, foraging and harvesting ingredients from his 12-acre property and farm for his native harvest tasting menu.

“Guests are shown to the table by Damon himself and then experience a five-hour dinner (approximately 20 courses),” reads the Dojo ranking.

According to the website, the restaurant hasn’t taken new reservations in over six years stating, “Due to a large reservation backlog, we had taken an extended break from accepting new reservation requests for our regular days of operation for nearly 6 years (since March 2014) to work through a portion of the waiting list.” 

The number three spot goes to Masalawala & Sons (365 5th Avenue). One of the latest restaurants from the Unapologetic Foods group, Masalawala & Sons is a revived version of the original run by restaurateur Roni Mazumdar and his father, Satyen Mazumdar. While the previous restaurant lasted a decade, the new restaurant explores the homestyle recipes from Mazumdar’s youth. With this latest iteration, Mazumdar now has the restaurant he wished he had all those years ago, telling Resy, “This is the restaurant I wanted to open 10 years ago, but couldn’t.”

Dojo reports, “Masalawala & Sons on Fifth Avenue is known for their incredible Indian food, and their waiting list proves it with over 600 people waiting for a reservation! They do accept some walk-ins, but be prepared that there are only four barstool tables on a weekday at 5pm!”

Since its opening, the restaurant has been booked and busy. Not surprising as we awarded it four stars when it opened in 2021 and listed it on our Best Restaurants of 2022.

While we could easily see a few more restaurants to add to the list, at least we will revel in the fact that it doesn’t take four years to get into Misi, as long as you time your reservation alerts right.

Check out the full list of hard-to-get reservations across the world:

1. Bank Tavern, Bristol, UK: four years
2. Damon Baehrel, Earlton, NY: one year
3. Masalawala & Sons, New York, NY: six months
4. La Mesita de Almanza, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina: six months
5. Mesa 1, Punta de Mita, Mexico: six months
6. Disfrutar, Barcelona, Spain: five months
7. The Fat Duck, Bray, UK: four months
8. Noma, Copenhagen, Denmark: three months
9. The Cove Club, London, UK: three months
10. Brae, Birregurra, Australia: two months

* This article was originally published here