New Haven is a vibrant cultural center, with art museums and galleries, live music and theater, commercial movies and film festivals, plus a range of special events dedicated to the arts. Yale has lively performances, museums and student events. Many of these are free! Here’s a brief list of suggestions to get you started:
Arts & Culture
- Yale Arts Calendar is a comprehensive listing of the many arts events on and around campus.
- Yale Student Life Hub Arts Section identifies many options to explore, both on and off campus.
- Museums and Galleries are mostly free to the public or with your Yale ID.
- Peabody Museum of Natural History is free to students with a Yale ID. Closed June 2020-2023 for major renovations.
- Yale Repertory Theatre and Yale School of Drama offer student tickets and passes.
- Yale School of Music concerts are free or discounted for students.
- Yale Cabaret and Summer Cabaret offer discounted student tickets.
- International Festival of Arts & Ideas takes place every June, offering more than 200 performances and thought-provoking talks, mostly free or with student discount tickets.
- New Haven Music & entertainment scene includes Shubert and Long Wharf Theatres, College Street Music Hall, NH Symphony, jazz, rock, folk, world, and choral music performances, and live music clubs, some with open mic sessions.
- Citywide OpenStudios (CWOS) is organized by Artspace. For several weekends in the fall, hundreds of local artists invite the public into their studios.
- BowTie Criterion Cinemas offer new releases, art and foreign language films in a comfortable atmosphere, serving snacks, wine and beer, with $7 Super Tuesday movie tickets.
Nightlife & Socializing
- McDougal Graduate Student Life organizes activities all through the year, including First Friday at Five Monthly Grad Socials, arts, culture, and sports outings, family events, Winter Ball, Grad Nights out, all of which are planned by Graduate Student McDougal Fellows.
- The Gryphon is home to Gryphon’s Pub, event space, and chambers for the Graduate and Professional Student Senate. The Gryphon hosts regular social events and annual parties. 21+ with a government issued ID.
- Info New Haven lists local pubs, clubs, bars, breweries, winebars, coffee-houses and cafes, some with live music, open-mic nights, dancing or DJs.
- Graduate Affiliate Program gives you the opportunity to be part of one of Yale’s 14 residential colleges without actually living there. Affiliates plan and participate in activities with undergraduates.
- First-year degree-seeking students apply to be a Graduate Affiliate in the early fall. Each spring, continuing graduate and professional school students can apply online for the following academic year.
- Students and Alumni of Yale (STAY) enables you to interact with other graduate and professional students, undergraduates, and alumni through leadership, service, mentoring, and social activities.
- Chaplain’s Office and Religious Life at Yale provides interfaith activities, worship, campus fellowships, and student religious groups for your spiritual needs.
- Yale World Fellows invites you to become an Associate Greenberg World Fellow, if you have a strong interest in international affairs and cultural exchanges. Associate Fellows participate in all academic, intellectual, and social aspects of the Yale World Fellows’ experience.