This is Mother's Day weekend, and Long Island is doing more for it this year than the usual brunch arms race. Beres Hammond brings Stephanie Mills and Romain Virgo to UBS Arena Saturday night for a sold-out reggae show. White Post Farms in Melville opens its barnyard for a two-day Mother's Day weekend. Old Westbury Gardens has a chamber music night in the Red Ballroom. The North Fork wineries are running their best brunches of the year. And Eisenhower Park puts 120 vendors on Field 8 if you still need a Mother's Day gift Saturday morning.

Here's what's worth planning around, and what the parking and traffic actually look like at each one.

Beres Hammond & Friends — Rockaway Mother's Day Concert at UBS Arena, Elmont

Saturday, May 9 | Doors 7:00 PM, show 8:00 PM | UBS Arena, 2400 Hempstead Turnpike, Elmont, NY 11003

Reggae icon Beres Hammond headlines UBS Arena Saturday night with Stephanie Mills and Romain Virgo on the bill — a Mother's Day weekend tradition this lineup has been running for years. This is a dressed-up crowd. You'll see white-on-white outfits, fresh suits, full hair and makeup. It's not a Knicks game.

UBS Arena parking is the part nobody loves. General lots run $35 and up, and the post-show exit onto Hempstead Turnpike and the Cross Island Parkway is genuinely slow — most people are still sitting in lots 30 minutes after the lights come up. For a 10pm-ish wrap, you're not getting back to Garden City or Massapequa until close to midnight if you parked.

A car service drops you at Gate D, picks you up at Gate D, and skips the parking math entirely. We do a lot of UBS Arena runs — concerts and Islanders games. The drop-off lane moves, the pickup is coordinated, and you don't sit through the parking exit. If you're coming from Suffolk, the Southern State to the Belt to the Cross Island gets you there cleanly. From Nassau, the Cross Island and Hempstead Turnpike work fine if you leave early enough — by 7pm both are crowded.

Mother's Day Weekend at White Post Farms — Melville

Saturday May 9 + Sunday May 10 | 250 Old Country Road, Melville, NY 11747

White Post Animal Farm runs a full Mother's Day weekend with the code MOM10 saving $10 a ticket. You're feeding farm animals and exotic animals — giraffes, kangaroos, the whole lineup — plus Rodeo Ricky's Comedy and Magic Show with a Bubble Dance Party finale. This is the multi-generation Mother's Day plan: grandma, mom, kids, all in one place, no fancy reservation, no dress code.

Melville on a Mother's Day weekend is busy. Old Country Road backs up between Route 110 and Pinelawn Road by mid-morning — the farm parking lot fills, and overflow parking pushes onto side streets. If you're rolling three generations deep with car seats, strollers, and grandma in the back, the easier call is one car for the whole group. We've done plenty of these. Drop everyone at the farm gate, you skip the lot, and pickup is at the same spot when you're done.

For a family in Huntington or Dix Hills, it's a 15-minute drive — but coordinating two cars and three drivers for a single Mother's Day morning is more complicated than it needs to be.

Old Westbury Gardens — The Enchantment of Strings

Saturday, May 9 | 8:00 PM (pre-concert discussion 7:30 PM, reception after) | 71 Old Westbury Road, Old Westbury, NY 11568

Poetica Musica plays the Red Ballroom Saturday night — Ravel, Mendelssohn, and Dvořák performed by Eric Wyrick on violin, Eugene Moye on cello, and guest artists Janey Choi and Michael Roth. There's a 7:30 pre-concert discussion and a post-concert reception on the West Porch with light refreshments. The Red Ballroom seats a small crowd. It's an intimate evening, not a big production.

Old Westbury Gardens is genuinely beautiful and the parking situation isn't bad during the day. But for an 8pm chamber music concert in May, you're parking in a lot that gets dark fast, walking to the mansion in formal clothes, and reversing the trip after the reception ends past 10pm. The estate is set back from Old Westbury Road and the entrance road is unlit. Not unsafe, just not ideal in heels.

This is the kind of evening a car service is built for. Drop at the front of the mansion, pick up at the same spot when the reception wraps. From Glen Cove, Roslyn, or Manhasset, you're 10–15 minutes. From eastern Nassau or western Suffolk, 25 minutes on the LIE.

North Fork Wineries — Mother's Day Brunch Run

Saturday May 9 + Sunday May 10 | Route 25, North Fork (Mattituck, Cutchogue, Peconic, Southold)

Mother's Day brunch on the North Fork is the move if you book ahead — and most of the good rooms are already booked, but tables open up. Silver Sands is running "Brunch, Bubbles & a Breath" both days with $35 bottomless bubbles and an optional Sunday breath work class with Celine Antoine. A Mano in Mattituck has a 3-course menu at $59.95 from 1pm to 7pm — basil-crusted Montauk cod, rigatoni Sunday sauce, linguine with shrimp and crabmeat. Grace and Grit serves brunch from 11am to 2pm with a complimentary drink for mom. North Fork Table & Inn and Birchwood are both running Mother's Day specials.

The wine pours are the issue. Suhru and Lieb Vineyards are running their Blanc & Franc Brunch Series this weekend, pairing new releases with the meal. Three or four tasting rooms across an afternoon plus a brunch with bottomless bubbles is a full day of drinking, and central Long Island to Mattituck is a 70-mile drive each way. The designated driver math doesn't work for this trip — either one person doesn't drink, or someone drives home with more in their system than they should.

We do a lot of North Fork runs on weekends like this. Pick the wineries, set the brunch reservation, and we handle Route 25 both ways. For a group of four or six, the per-person cost ends up close to what everyone would spend on gas plus the cost of one person staying sober. We also see corporate clients booking the same trip for client entertainment — same logistics, same route.

Eisenhower Park Art, Craft & Gift Vendor Fair — East Meadow

Saturday May 9 + Sunday May 10 | 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM | Field 8, Eisenhower Park

If you still need a Mother's Day gift Saturday morning, this is the practical play. 120 local vendors set up at Field 8 in Eisenhower Park — handmade jewelry, candles, prints, spring decor, plants. Free admission, plenty of room, and you're done in 90 minutes if you have a target in mind.

Park Boulevard parking is fine on a normal Saturday — Field 8 has its own lot. The complications come if you're combining it with another stop or if you're getting picked up by family from Suffolk. Easy ride, low stakes, included here because it's the most low-effort Mother's Day option on the island this weekend.

Getting Around Long Island This Weekend

UBS Arena Saturday night is the bottleneck. The Cross Island and Hempstead Turnpike both back up between 6:30pm and 7:30pm as people roll in for Beres Hammond. Plan to be at the venue 30 minutes before doors if you're parking. Post-show exit takes 25–40 minutes from lot to road.

Old Country Road in Melville gets crowded mid-morning Saturday and Sunday with the White Post Farms traffic and general Mother's Day brunch traffic. Move early.

For the North Fork, Route 25 east on a Mother's Day Sunday afternoon is fine — most of the slow traffic is the return trip starting around 4pm. Sunrise Highway and Route 25 westbound between Riverhead and Manorville are the slow stretches. Build in 25 extra minutes if you're trying to be back in Nassau by 7pm.

We cover all of it — airport transfers, corporate travel, and days out on Long Island. Whether it's a UBS Arena drop-off Saturday night, a White Post Farms run with three generations of family, or a full afternoon on the North Fork, the process is the same. Request a quote here and we'll handle the rest.

Best Things To Do on Long Island This Weekend — May 9–10, 2026