Stumblday's hand-checked ranking of the best free things to do in New York City the weekend of Sep 25–27, 2026: 80 picks, refreshed weekly.
80 picks · checked Sep 7
Boerum Hill, BrooklynDetroit Publishing Co. (w) , publisher. · Public domain · Wikimedia CommonsBrooklyn's biggest and best-loved street festival marks its 51st year, taking over Atlantic Avenue for six hours of live music, food and hundreds of local businesses and vendors.
Boerum Hill, BrooklynDetroit Publishing Co. (w) , publisher. · Public domain · Wikimedia CommonsBrooklyn's biggest and best-loved street festival marks its 51st year, taking over Atlantic Avenue for six hours of live music, food and hundreds of local businesses and vendors.
Mulberry Street, Little Italy, ManhattanMusikAnimal · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia CommonsThe feast's centrepiece: floats, celebrities and the gondola down Mulberry Street.
Mulberry Street, Little Italy, ManhattanMusikAnimal · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia CommonsThe feast's centrepiece: floats, celebrities and the gondola down Mulberry Street.
Flushing, QueensThe USA International Dragon Lion Dance Cultural Festival shuts Main Street and Sanford Avenue for a China Day Mid-Autumn parade, sending dragon and lion troupes through the heart of downtown Flushing.
Flushing, QueensThe USA International Dragon Lion Dance Cultural Festival shuts Main Street and Sanford Avenue for a China Day Mid-Autumn parade, sending dragon and lion troupes through the heart of downtown Flushing.
Brooklyn Borough Hall & venues citywide, Downtown Brooklyn, BrooklynJoann Jovinelly (editrrix) from NYC · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia CommonsBrooklyn Book Festival kicks off nine days of free author talks and citywide Bookend events, building to the Northeast's biggest book market.
Brooklyn Borough Hall & venues citywide, Downtown Brooklyn, BrooklynJoann Jovinelly (editrrix) from NYC · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia CommonsBrooklyn Book Festival kicks off nine days of free author talks and citywide Bookend events, building to the Northeast's biggest book market.
Central Park, ManhattanPhotograph by Mike Peel ( www.mikepeel.net ). · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia CommonsThe free, action-earned Global Citizen Festival returns to Central Park's Great Lawn with Ms. Lauryn Hill & Wyclef Jean, Lenny Kravitz, John Legend, Lainey Wilson, Shaboozey and TOMORROW X TOGETHER.
Central Park, ManhattanPhotograph by Mike Peel ( www.mikepeel.net ). · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia CommonsThe free, action-earned Global Citizen Festival returns to Central Park's Great Lawn with Ms. Lauryn Hill & Wyclef Jean, Lenny Kravitz, John Legend, Lainey Wilson, Shaboozey and TOMORROW X TOGETHER.
Theater District, ManhattanFor one Sunday a year Broadway sells itself off folding tables: shows and theater organizations line West 44th and West 45th Streets with posters, props and costume pieces, with a silent auction in Shubert.
Theater District, ManhattanFor one Sunday a year Broadway sells itself off folding tables: shows and theater organizations line West 44th and West 45th Streets with posters, props and costume pieces, with a silent auction in Shubert.
Jackson Heights, QueensHispanic Heritage Month's Queens parade runs the length of 37th Avenue in Jackson Heights, from 69th Street to 89th Street, with floats, bands, dance groups and community organisations.
Jackson Heights, QueensHispanic Heritage Month's Queens parade runs the length of 37th Avenue in Jackson Heights, from 69th Street to 89th Street, with floats, bands, dance groups and community organisations.
Ditmas Park, BrooklynVictorian Flatbush's street fair, running since 1975, closes Cortelyou Road between Coney Island and Ocean Avenues for food booths, live music on multiple stages, a beer and wine garden, pony rides and.
Ditmas Park, BrooklynVictorian Flatbush's street fair, running since 1975, closes Cortelyou Road between Coney Island and Ocean Avenues for food booths, live music on multiple stages, a beer and wine garden, pony rides and.
Sunset Park, BrooklynBrooklyn's Chinatown closes Eighth Avenue from 50th to 60th Street for its Mid-Autumn moon cake festival, a permitted street parade through the middle of Sunset Park's Chinese business district.
Sunset Park, BrooklynBrooklyn's Chinatown closes Eighth Avenue from 50th to 60th Street for its Mid-Autumn moon cake festival, a permitted street parade through the middle of Sunset Park's Chinese business district.
Rockaway Beach Boardwalk: Beach 108th Street, QueensRockaway Beach Boardwalk: Beach 108th Street, QueensOfficial Parks Department listing scheduled.
Washington Heights, ManhattanDietmar Rabich · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia CommonsThe American Academy of Arts and Letters reopens its Audubon Terrace galleries after a summer closure with a Yoshitaka Amano survey, alongside Arakawa and Madeline Gins' The Poetic Jump and a Christopher.
Washington Heights, ManhattanDietmar Rabich · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia CommonsThe American Academy of Arts and Letters reopens its Audubon Terrace galleries after a summer closure with a Yoshitaka Amano survey, alongside Arakawa and Madeline Gins' The Poetic Jump and a Christopher.
Meatpacking District, ManhattanA 16,000-square-foot Peanuts fashion exhibition in the Meatpacking District, free and walk-in, on its final weekend. Open Friday and Saturday only; it closes before Sunday.
Meatpacking District, ManhattanA 16,000-square-foot Peanuts fashion exhibition in the Meatpacking District, free and walk-in, on its final weekend. Open Friday and Saturday only; it closes before Sunday.
Culture Lab LIC, Long Island City, QueensFree outdoor concerts in Culture Lab's Long Island City lot - two or three bands a night and the season closes this weekend.
Culture Lab LIC, Long Island City, QueensFree outdoor concerts in Culture Lab's Long Island City lot - two or three bands a night and the season closes this weekend.
Bay Ridge, BrooklynBay Ridge's biggest street festival, run by the volunteer Merchants of Third Avenue, closes the length of Third Avenue through the neighbourhood for vendors, food and live music.
Bay Ridge, BrooklynBay Ridge's biggest street festival, run by the volunteer Merchants of Third Avenue, closes the length of Third Avenue through the neighbourhood for vendors, food and live music.
MoMA PS1, Long Island City, QueensThree decades of Margolles's work on violence and its residue fills MoMA PS1's third floor, including a new commission.
MoMA PS1, Long Island City, QueensThree decades of Margolles's work on violence and its residue fills MoMA PS1's third floor, including a new commission.
Brooklyn Bridge Park Boathouse, Pier 2 Dock, Brooklyn Heights, BrooklynTwenty minutes on the East River in the protected embayment off Pier 2 - boats, vests and instruction provided and it costs nothing.
Brooklyn Bridge Park Boathouse, Pier 2 Dock, Brooklyn Heights, BrooklynTwenty minutes on the East River in the protected embayment off Pier 2 - boats, vests and instruction provided and it costs nothing.
Staten Island Museum at Snug Harbor, Livingston, Staten IslandEpicgenius · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia CommonsThe museum's front lawn at Snug Harbor becomes an open-air gallery of Staten Island painters, potters and printmakers, plus a biergarten.
Staten Island Museum at Snug Harbor, Livingston, Staten IslandEpicgenius · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia CommonsThe museum's front lawn at Snug Harbor becomes an open-air gallery of Staten Island painters, potters and printmakers, plus a biergarten.
The Drawing Center, SoHo, ManhattanEdward Lamson Henry · Public domain · Wikimedia CommonsAsmaa Walton's 800-volume Black Art Library takes over The Drawing Center's bookstore as a free reading room. Closes Sunday.
The Drawing Center, SoHo, ManhattanEdward Lamson Henry · Public domain · Wikimedia CommonsAsmaa Walton's 800-volume Black Art Library takes over The Drawing Center's bookstore as a free reading room. Closes Sunday.
Midtown, ManhattanA Miffy and Just Dutch shop inside Kinokuniya's Sixth Avenue bookstore, free to browse, in its final week.
Midtown, ManhattanA Miffy and Just Dutch shop inside Kinokuniya's Sixth Avenue bookstore, free to browse, in its final week.
Hauser & Wirth, 542 West 22nd Street, Chelsea, ManhattanKorean icon Lee Bul fills Hauser & Wirth with major new sculptures — cyborg bodies and glittering future ruins probing technology, nature and history.
Hauser & Wirth, 542 West 22nd Street, Chelsea, ManhattanKorean icon Lee Bul fills Hauser & Wirth with major new sculptures — cyborg bodies and glittering future ruins probing technology, nature and history.
Jack Shainman Gallery, 46 Lafayette Street, Tribeca, ManhattanGordon Parks' civil-rights photographs return with new written reflections from the families of Muhammad Ali and Malcolm X in a landmark Tribeca show.
Jack Shainman Gallery, 46 Lafayette Street, Tribeca, ManhattanGordon Parks' civil-rights photographs return with new written reflections from the families of Muhammad Ali and Malcolm X in a landmark Tribeca show.
The Museum of Modern Art, Midtown, ManhattanJason Persse · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia CommonsThirty works of digital and analog information design in MoMA's street-level gallery, which is free and open to the public.
The Museum of Modern Art, Midtown, ManhattanJason Persse · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia CommonsThirty works of digital and analog information design in MoMA's street-level gallery, which is free and open to the public.
Richmond Hill, QueensForest Park's community fair returns for its fifty-first year at the Buddy Monument, off Myrtle Avenue and Forest Park Drive, in a revived and expanded format.
Richmond Hill, QueensForest Park's community fair returns for its fifty-first year at the Buddy Monument, off Myrtle Avenue and Forest Park Drive, in a revived and expanded format.
El Museo del Barrio, East Harlem, ManhattanThe first major retrospective of Teddy Sandoval, a central figure of LA's queer Chicano avant-garde, opens at El Museo del Barrio for its New York run.
El Museo del Barrio, East Harlem, ManhattanThe first major retrospective of Teddy Sandoval, a central figure of LA's queer Chicano avant-garde, opens at El Museo del Barrio for its New York run.
Big weekends coming up — save them now, plan later.
