Photograph outside the National Academy Museum during last year's Museum Mile festivities by AMARTI02 on Flickr

It's the 31st year of the Museum Mile Festival, where Fifth Avenue between 82nd and 105th Streets is closed so people can visit the nine museums along that stretch for free! The participating museums are: El Museo del Barrio; Museum of the City of New York; The Jewish Museum; Cooper Hewitt, National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution; National Academy Museum and School of Fine Arts; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum; Neue Galerie New York; Goethe-Institut/German Cultural Center; and The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

There's an opening ceremony at the Guggenheim (Fifth at 89th Street) at 5:45 p.m. and the festival is open 6 p.m. through 9 p.m., rain or shine, with live bands, street performers and "art in the street" activities. Plus, the website says, "Plus, follow the mile with street muralist De La Vega - grab a piece of chalk and make your mark!"