BENEFIT

SUPPORT FOR MUSIC IN THE PARK

The Felix Swing Band provides tunes at an afternoon benefit for the Washington Square Music Festival. Guests will enjoy cocktails and hors d’oeuvres from several downtown restaurants. The music festival brings free classical and jazz concerts to Washington Square Park (July 13, 19, and 26). Sunday, June 12, 4-7 p.m., Greenwich House Music School and Garden, 46 Barrow St., between Bleecker and Bedford streets, 212-255-4460, $75-$150.

CARTOONS

DRAWING A CROWD

A comics festival sponsored by the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art draws artists and fans alike. Who will attend? According to organizers, “Everyone Important in Comic and Cartoon Art Today.” That list includes Neal Adams, Francoise Mouly, Patrick McDonnell, Frank Miller, and Daniel Clowes. Author Jonathan Lethem, whose first comic, “Omega the Unknown,” will be published next year, will also make an appearance. Saturday, June 11 and Sunday, June 12, 11 a.m.-6 p.m., Puck Building, 293 Lafayette St. at Houston Street, 212-254-3511, $7 one day, $12 two days, $5 both days for museum members.

FESTIVALS

DOWNTOWN DELIGHTS

The River to River festival offers more than 500 free events in Lower Manhattan (including some events that overlap with other festivals). Among the many highlights are a performance by Audra McDonald paying tribute to the “Swedish nightingale,” Jenny Lind (Friday, June 3, 5 p.m. tickets distributed, Castle Clinton), Arlo Guthrie celebrating the 40th anniversary of Alice’s restaurant (Wednesday, June 15, 7 p.m., Battery Park City, Rockefeller Park, 212-945-0505), and a dance performance by Chris Elam and Misnomer Dance Theater (Thursday, August 11, 5:30 p.m., Wagner Park). Yo La Tengo and Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks will perform an Independence Day concert (Monday, July 4, 3 p.m., Battery Park, 212-835-2789). Festival: Wednesday, June 1 through Saturday, September 17, various locations, 212-835-2789, free. Please see www.rivertorivernyc.com for the full schedule.

LONG DAY’S NIGHT

Socrates Sculpture Park celebrates the summer solstice – the longest day of the year – with a family festival. The Main Squeeze Orchestra provides tunes, and there will be art workshops, snacks, and facepainting. Tuesday, June 21, 5-9 p.m., Socrates Sculpture Park, 32-01 Vernon Blvd., Long Island City, Queens, 718-956-1819, free. Note: The park is also the site of a weekly outdoor film screening series (Wednesdays, July 6-August 31).

FILM

SMALL SCREENS

SummerNights is a live music and screening series that shows classic and contemporary television shows from the Jewish Museum’s National Jewish Archive of Broadcasting. The small-screen shows on view range from “The Goldbergs” to “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” Thursdays, June 2-September 1, 5-9 p.m., Jewish Museum, 1109 Fifth Ave. at 92nd Street, 212-423-3200, free with museum admission, which is pay-what-you-wish on Thursday evenings.

STORY VS. SCREEN

Makor attempts to answer that eternal question about film adaptations: “Was it better than the book?” Before each of four screenings this summer, viewers should read the novel (and one memoir) that served as the inspiration. A lively discussion will follow. The summer reading list is: Pearl Buck’s “The Good Earth” (July 13), Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” (July 27), Lillian Hellman’s “Pentimento” (August 10), and Jane Austen’s “Emma” (August 24). All screenings: Wednesdays, 2 p.m., Makor, 35 W. 67th St., between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue, 212-415-5500, $25 each event, $90 series.

FOOD & DRINK

BIG BARBECUE

Dan Rather will be on hand for a panel discussion on Texas barbecue at this year’s Big Apple Barbecue Block Party. The outdoor event draws some of the biggest names in barbecue. There will be meat, jazz and bluegrass, several panel discussions, a screening of “Barbecue: A Texas Love Story” (which features Mr. Rather), a wine seminar ($25, reservations required), and more meat. Last year, attendees consumed 1,500 racks of baby-back ribs, 4,700 pounds of brisket, and 1,800 slices of watermelon. Saturday, June 11, and Sunday, June 12, noon-6 p.m., Madison Square Park, Madison Avenue, 23rd and 26th streets and Fifth Avenue, free to attend. Please go to www.bigapplebbq.org for a full schedule.

DOG DAY

Coney Island is the site of Nathan’s Famous hot dog-eating contest, that most American of sporting events. This year, four time world champion Takeru Kobayashi of Japan will defend his title of 53 1/2 hot dogs. The winner wears the jewel-encrusted Mustard Yellow International Belt – the green jacket of competitive eating. Monday, July 4, Coney Island, Surf and Stillwell avenues, Brooklyn, free. Please see www.nathansfamous.com for more information.

GARDENING

PRETTY PLANTING

Wave Hill presents Cutting Edge Combos, a June series of programs on planting in containers. A highlight is a workshop in ornamental vegetables, with advice on planting veggies for aesthetic (and culinary) effect (Wednesday, June 29). Series: Wednesday, June 8-29, 6:30-8 p.m., Wave Hill, Perkins Visitors Center, 675 W. 252nd St. at Independence Avenue, Bronx, 718-549-3200, free with admission, $4 general, $2 seniors and students.

SWEET SMELLS

Brooklyn Botanic Garden celebrates the 50th anniversary of its fragrance garden with a festival of fragrant flowers and herbs. Children can make potpourri sachets, adults can attend short seminars on fragrance gardening, and there’s live music in the amphitheater (Sunday, July 10). The festival also serves as the kick-off to a summer long series of guided “Scent-sational Garden Strolls” (Saturday, July 9-Sunday, September 4, Saturday and Sunday, 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.) Summer hours: Tuesday-Friday, 8 a.m.-6 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Brooklyn Botanic Garden, 900 Washington Ave., near Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, 718-623-7200, $5 general, $3 seniors and students.

MUSEUMS

MILE OF SMILES

Nine New York museums offer free admission as part of the annual Museum Mile Festival. Fifth Avenue is closed to traffic between 82nd Street (the Metropolitan Museum) and 105th Street (El Museo del Barrio), with live music performances along the way. Tuesday, June 7, 6-9 p.m., Fifth Avenue, free. Please go to www.museummilefestival.org for a full list of locations.

MUSIC

BROOKLYN BANDSHELL

Celebrate Brooklyn kicks off its slate of concerts and film screenings with a performance by rootsy singer-songwriter Rickie Lee Jones (Wednesday, June 15, 8 p.m.). Other highlights include a special performance by the Brooklyn Philharmonic (Saturday, July 16, 8 p.m.) and a screening of the 1932 classic “Tarzan the Ape Man,” updated with a newly commissioned score performed by Mocean Worker (Sunday, August 7, 7 p.m.). All performances: Prospect Park Bandshell, enter at Prospect Park West and 9th Street, Park Slope, Brooklyn, 718-855-7882 ext. 45, $3 suggested donation (except benefit concerts).

SEAPORT SOUNDS

The South Street Seaport Music Festival features free performances by the countrified rock band Son Volt (Thursday, July 14), salsa bandleader Johnny Ray (Wednesday, July 27) and pioneering rappers the Sugar Hill Gang (Thursday, August 25). Thursday, June 30 through Friday, August 26, Wednesday-Friday, 6 p.m., South Street Seaport, Pier 17, Fulton and South streets, 212-732-7678, free. Please see www.seaportmusicfestival.com for the full schedule.

PARADE

CELEBRATING ISRAEL

The “Salute to Israel” parade celebrates the 57th anniversary of the state of Israel. Sunday, June 5, 11 a.m.-4 p.m., proceeding along Fifth Avenue to 79th Street from 57th Street, free. Please go to www.salutetoisrael.com for more information.

READINGS

‘ULYSSES’ MARATHON

Symphony Space’s annual celebration of Bloomsday focuses on Leopold Bloom and his women. Stephen Colbert portrays Bloom and Terry Donnelly is his unfaithful wife, Molly. Isaiah Sheffer is host of the reading, which marks the 101st anniversary of the day that Bloom wandered through Dublin in James Joyce’s “Ulysses.” Thursday, June 16, 7 p.m., Symphony Space, Peter Jay Sharpe Theatre, 2537 Broadway at 95th Street, 212-864-5400, $20 general, $17 seniors and students, $14 members.

SHORT STUFF

David Sedaris is host at an evening of readings by some of the biggest names in short stories: Lorrie Moore, Charles Baxter, Akhil Sharma, and Joyce Carol Oates. Sarah Vowell also will participate in the reading, which will celebrate the fund-raising success of the recent collection “Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules,” edited by Mr. Sedaris. Proceeds from the event, like those of the book, go to the in-school tutoring programs of 826NYC. Tuesday, July 5, 8 p.m., Cooper Union Great Hall, 7 E. 7th St. at Third Avenue, 212-279-4200, $20.

TOURS

ON THE WATERFRONT

The Brooklyn Historical Society offers hour-long boat tours of the borough’s “working waterfront” each Saturday this summer. Passengers enjoy views along the East River to Brooklyn’s Fulton Ferry Landing from the South Street Seaport. Saturdays, June 4-August 27, 11 a.m. pick-up at South Street Seaport, Fulton Street at Water Street, 11:05 a.m. pickup at Fulton Ferry Landing, the foot of Old Fulton Street, Brooklyn, 212-742-1969, $20 general, $18 members, $14 children under 12, $12 children of members.

GRAVE SITES

Brooklyn artists create site-specific performances for a moonlight tour of Green-Wood Cemetery. Participants bring flashlights, sign a liability waver, and stroll through the historic cemetery guided by historian Jeff Richman. The performances are directed by Martha Bowers of Dance Theatre Etcetera. Saturday, July 16, 8:15 p.m., Green-Wood Cemetery, 25th Street at Fifth Avenue, Brooklyn, 631-549-4891, $15 general, $10 Historic Fund members.