Big Umbrella Festival to Return to Lincoln Center This Weekend

The Big Umbrella Festival is returning to Lincoln Center this weekend. The festival centers neurodiverse audiences by sharing unique approaches to sensory-based, interactive, and intimate artistic experiences to meet audiences exactly as they are. Launched in 2018, the festival continues this year with an expanded array of events from artists across the world, varying in age-range and genre, all for Free and Choose-What-You-Pay. All events are Relaxed Performances, open to all and especially welcoming for people with autism and other sensory or communication disorders.
 

To celebrate this year’s Big Umbrella Festival, we are pleased to present Untitled, a limited-edition benefit print and commemorative poster by the artist Marlon Mullen, published by Lincoln Center Editions. Complimentary posters will be gifted to attendees of the Big Umbrella Festival while supplies last.
 

More on Marlon Mullen:
 

Marlon Mullen (b. 1963) creates images with bold, vivid colors of interlocking shapes that reference pictures sourced from art magazines. For nearly 40 years he has worked at NIAD Art Center, a progressive art studio for artists with developmental disabilities. Mullen currently has a solo exhibition at The Museum of Modern Art through April 20.

Limited-edition benefit prints are also available for purchase at Art.LincolnCenter.org. Proceeds support Lincoln Center’s cultural programming.
 
Additional Big Umbrella Festival highlights include:
 
Virtual Crip Movement Lab, a virtual workshop for all disabled people and their non-disabled accomplices; and an exciting in-person evening of standup comedy, both presented in collaboration with the ReelAbilities Film Festival (April 3 and April 4)
 
Los Trompos: a captivating outdoor installation in Damrosch Park, designed by Esrawe + Cadena (Mexico), featuring eight colorful and larger-than-life spinning tops (April 4–6, 9–13, and 16–20)
 
The U.S. premiere of When the World Turns: an immersive and participatory collaboration from Polyglot Theatre (Australia) and Oily Cart (UK) inviting audiences to explore a wondrous landscape of foliage, light, sounds, and shadows (April 4-6 and 11-13)

CMS Kids: Moving Music: A melodious introduction into the world of chamber music and its instruments, where audiences can experience how an ensemble works together through active listening, movement, and call-and-response activities (April 5)

The U.S. Premiere of The Sticky Dance for Sensory Groovers: an interactive dance performance co-created by Rosie Heafford and Takeshi Matsumoto of Second Hand Dance (England), encouraging audiences to freely explore a colorful tapestry of sticky tape in this tactile, participatory experience (April 11-13)

E.P.I.C. Players: A showcase of the non-profit theater company’s 2025 season repertoire shines a light on neurodiverse talent through music, theater, and dance (April 12)

Hamlet: This New York premiere by Teatro La Plaza (Peru) is a joyful and enigmatic reimagining of Shakespeare’s timeless work performed in Spanish (with English captions) by a cast of actors with Down syndrome (April 19)

Indoor visual art stations led by Lincoln Center’s education team and teaching artists (April 11–13)