Hoo wee! Summer is almost here. Don’t look out your window, because you can’t tell by the weather. Instead, look online. I just noticed that Summerstage finally posted their 2005 calendar. They realized that most of us are broke/cheap/lame and won’t pay $40 for a benefit concert, so they split the calendar into 2 sections: free and paid benefit shows. The free shows calendar is below.

And SummerStage isn’t the only thing. Here’s proof you can be broke in the city of greed and still have a great time:

SummerStage 2005 Free Shows
Highlights: Club Shelter Dance Party, June 25th; Citizen Cope, July 10th; Brazilian Girls and Femi Kuti, July 17th; M.I.A., August 7th.

Bryant Park Film Fest
Monday Nights all summer. Get there EARLY. Highlights: The Fly, The Odd Couple, The Gay Divorcee, and Jaws!

Celebrate Brooklyn Series @ Prospect Park
Highlights: Soulive / Antibalas, June 24th; New Pornographers / Stars / The Sadies, June 25th; Hop-Fu (Live hip-hop meets classic Kung-Fu cinema), July 8th; The Sound of Music / SLAM, July 29th.

World Financial Center, Downtown Events Calendar
Highlights: Yo La Tengo + Stephen Malkmus, July 4th; Clem Snide, July 7th; Calexico, July 14th; M. Ward, July 21st

Other Classical, Jazz, and Opera in the Park
“From May through Labor Day, Central Park offers a rich assortment of concerts and musical events. … The Great Lawn will be the pastoral setting for free performances by the New York Philharmonic and the Metropolitan Opera, Rumsey Playfield will be the venue for SummerStage and the New York Grand Opera, and at the Naumburg Bandshell you can enjoy classical music concerts. Pick your day and pick your music – there’s something for every taste…”

Movies With a View, under the Brooklyn Bridge
“This year Halcyon will be bringing DJs to the park to spin some tunes before the film begins to help set the mood for our feature presentation. Listen for groovy James Bond-esque bachelor-pad tunes before Dr. No, and retro surfer music before Gidget. Music starts at 6:00 pm and movies begin at sunset. Bring your blanket, grab your popcorn and join the thousands who visit the park every Thursday night in July and August 2005 to enjoy great movies…with a view!”

River to River Festival
An insane number of events, all free, all downtown.

RiverFlicks @ Chelsea Piers
(2005 schedule not yet posted)
“Enjoy all-time great movies under the stars! Every Wednesday evening at Pier 54 and Friday evening on Pier 25. Movies begin at dusk (generally between 8-8:30pm.) Seating is available. Free Popcorn.”

Socrates Sculpture Park Internation Film Series
(2005 schedule not yet posted)
“Socrates Sculpture Park, in collaboration with Partnerships for Parks, presents the 7th annual outdoor international film festival. Each evening focuses on a different country or culture and visitors can sample regional cuisine from neighborhood restaurants, picnic on the grass and enjoy the cool waterfront breeze as the sun sets over the Manhattan skyline, take in performances by local musicians and dancers, and watch exceptional international films on an outdoor screen. All screenings will be held in the Park. Prescreening performances and participating restaurants to be announced. ”