Fathers Eve is back in 2021 for NYC Dads Group members! A flag football game and dads night out will be held the day before Father’s Day in Manhattan for our guys to celebrate the joys of being dads together.
UPDATED 6/8/21, 4 p.m.: A second event that night has been added in Port Washington for our members living in our closer to Long Island. More details below.
The 2021 Fathers Eve NYC party starts at 4 p.m., Saturday, June 19, with the game at the Morningside Park softball fields in Manhattan. Two hours later, the fun moves to The Harlem Tavern for food, drink and an 8 p.m. raising of the glass to toast fathers around the world.
Participation in the flag football game is not necessary for attending the tavern event, but scorekeepers and refs will be needed. A few fans cheering on the sidelines is good, too. Our members are encouraged to bring their other dad friends but an RSVP is needed.
+ RSVP for Fathers Eve 2021 Manhattan event +
The Port Washington, N.Y., has also been held in year’s past as a local restaurant. This year’s event will be outdoors and be focused around the live stream, according to its organizer.
+ RSVP for Fathers Eve 2021 Port Washington event +
Fathers Eve is the brainchild of John Francis, a co-organizer of our Twin Cities Dads Group in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area of Minnesota. He first gathered several of his dad friends in a residential garage in night before Father’s Day 2012 to break bread, drink beers, and swap stories about fatherhood while offering each other support in their efforts to become better parents.
(DISCLOSURE: City Dads Group is a national sponsor for Fathers Eve 2021 as it has been for the past several years.)
After a banner year in 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic start in March 2020 forced Francis to quickly pivot from in-person events to a livestream program. A roughly 40-minute live video feed of programming, hosted from his garage where the first event was held nine years ago, was broadcast for each of the four mainland U.S. time zones. Each culminated in a local 8 p.m. toast to the joys of being a dad.
With the virus threat subsiding throughout most of the United States, Francis said he is expecting about 30 locations to host in-person events, though he is hoping the get the number as high as 100.
Buoyed by the success of last year’s livestream, Francis said he is keeping it to anchor the in-person events and also bring in others unable or hesitant to attend a gathering this year.
For the Fathers Eve 2021 livestream, to be broadcast via Facebook Live, Francis said he aims to add some more humorous components, such as clips from comedians, and some new speakers as well as highlighting sponsors and fatherhood causes. Sponsors this year include Sports Clips haircuts (national) and IHeartRadio and ACE Hardware (both local).
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