NYC events in March 2025

The New York City Saint Patrick's Day Parade is coming up, and NYC's parade is a really big deal. It's the oldest and largest St. Patrick’s Day Parade in the world. The first NYC parade was held in 1762, and it's been a time-honored tradition of Irish pride ever since. 

From pipe and drum bands to dancers and performers in regalia, midtown Manhattan transforms into a big party with a sea of green revelers every year for this festive affair. More than 150,000 people march in the parade every year, with more than 2 million spectators cheering them on.

This year's St. Patrick’s Day Parade takes place on Monday, March 17, 2025.

Need a vacation? Head to The Bronx for The Orchid Show: Mexican Modernism at New York Botanical Garden. The sprawling floral exhibition, with its vibrant colors, flowing waterfalls and thousands of orchids, makes for a transportive tropical escape. 

This year's show, presented in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, was inspired by the art of the Mexican modernist architect Luis Barragán. Throughout your floral adventure, you'll learn about the late artist's ethos as you stroll through meditative spaces, explore minimalist designs and notice contrasting details. The Orchid Show: Mexican Modernism is open through April 27. Don't miss Orchid Nights, 21+ events on select nights that feature cumbia music, dancing, and drinks. 

For centuries, classical music has been a largely male-dominated medium. But in celebration of International Women’s Day, Bay Area-based pianist Sarah Cahill will be putting on a marathon performance of her ongoing curation project, The Future is Female, at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

On Saturday, March 8 from 2pm to 8pm in The Met's European Paintings 1250-1800 galleries, Cahill will be “investigating and recontextualizing the piano repertoire” via more than 70 compositions by women from around the globe. The performance will allow audiences to hear music from many eras—with dates ranging from 1687 to 2020—and get to know the musicians behind the works.

Hitting a Yankees game couldn’t be more quintessentially New York. The Major League Baseball team, which won the World Series in 1978, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2009, made it to the World Series again in 2024! To date, the Yankees have won 27 World Series in 42 appearances, the most in the MLB in addition to major North American professional sports leagues. Through 2024, their all-time regular season winning percentage is .569 (a 10,778 – 8,148 record)—the best of any team in MLB history.

Grab your tickets now to see NYC in action!

How is she? Ever since it was confirmed that Audra McDonald would star in the latest revival of Gypsy, Broadway fans have speculated about how Audra would be as Mama Rose—or, more nervously, whether Audra could be Mama Rose, the implacable stage mother who sacrifices everything to make her two daughters into stars. So let’s get that question out of the way up front. How is Audra as Rose? She’s a revelation. 

So, too, is the rest of George C. Wolfe’s deeply intelligent and beautifully mounted production, which comes as a happy surprise.

Only people in the know go to these secret jazz speakeasy shows, but don't worry, we're about to let you in on the secret. These undergound live jazz performances called Daddy Rabbit are the epitome of cool.

Musician extraordinaire Misha Piatigorsky launched Daddy Rabbit a few years ago, and the series has gained quite a following. Grab a ticket here for upcoming shows at LOULOU in Chelsea. Here's the lineup:

— Monday, February 10: Khailah Johnson
— Saturday, March 8: Benny Benack III
— Friday, March 21: A tribute to David Bowie featuring Emily Braden, Rahj Mason, and Tatum Greenblatt
— Monday, March 24: Khailah Johnson
— Friday, April 11: Details TBD
— Friday, April 25: Details TBD

Heading to Madison Square Garden to watch the Knicks play is an iconic night out in NYC. The basketball team made the playoffs recently in the 2020-21 season led by forward Julius Randle and RJ Barrett. 

Catch them at MSG now!

If Netflix’s Squid Game was one of your favorite shows and you’re looking forward to the new season premiere this December, you’ll want to try your hand at some of the challeneges at Squid Game: The Experience here in NYC.

Set within Manhattan Mall (100 West 33rd Street by Sixth Avenue), you get into teams of up to 24 people each to complete challenges across 60 minutes, including those that appeared on the TV show (yes, you’ll get to try your hand at the iconic Red Light Green Light) plus a number of brand-new ones built specifically for the experience. Once done playing, you can enjoy a night market offering a variety of Korean and international sweet and savory foods, plus drinks.

A couple of years ago, the New York Public Library purchased the late Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne’s archive, announcing that, once processed, the collection would be available to anyone with a library card at the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building on Fifth Avenue.

The time has finally come—on March 26, the library will make the archive, comprised of a total of 336 boxes, publicly available. 

The collection includes a ton of artifacts, including notes and typescripts from Didion's interviews to Dunne’s correspondence with Brandon Teena’s murderer, a relationship that led to a famous piece in the New Yorker that was then adapted into the Oscar-winning film Boys Don't Cry, starring Hilary Swank.

In the 1950 film masterpiece Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood glamour is a dead-end street. Stalled there with no one coming to find her—except perhaps to use her car—is Norma Desmond: a former silent-screen goddess who is now all but forgotten. Secluded and deluded, she haunts her own house and plots her grand return to the pictures; blinded by the spotlight in her mind, she is unaware that what she imagines to be a hungry audience out there in the dark is really just the dark.

If you're going to be in New York on Friday, March 7, there's no better way to listen to Lady Gaga's new album for the first time than at the beloved restaurant owned by her family on the Upper West Side, Joanne Trattoria.

Starting at 6pm on March 7, you'll be able to reserve a table at the iconic restaurant-slash-theater and try some Germanotta family recipes and Mayhem-inspired cocktails. The party will be hosted by Jupiter Genesis, the creator of Drag Me to Joanne's (a weekly drag show that takes place at the restaurant), who will give out exclusive Mayhem goodies. Plan to be there for a couple of hours, since the upcoming Gaga album is going to include a robust 14 songs.

Tables for the listening party are currently going for $50 and can be booked via OpenTable, with a portion of proceeds going to the Malibu Fire Department in support of their efforts fighting the devastating L.A. wildfires.

It was only a matter of time until Flaco, NYC's fallen owl king, became the subject of his very own exhibit. The beloved Eurasian eagle-owl used to fly around the city after escaping from the zoo, until he passed away about a year ago. 

"The Year of Flaco," a new exhibit at The New-York Historical Society, is scheduled to run through June 6. Featuring photos and videos "documenting Flaco's flight and his new life in the city, along with letters, drawings and objects left at a memorial beneath Flaco’s favorite oak tree following his death one year ago," the program will also examine "the dangers faced by birds in urban environments, legislation inspired by Flaco's legacy and practical steps for creating a safer city for wildlife."

Want to feel like you can practically defy gravity? You can do just that at Lush Spa with their Wicked-themed book-a-bath experience. 

In partnership with Universal Studios, the Upper East Side spa is completely decked out with Wicked vibes. There's vivid green and glimmering gold decor, including taper candles and even wallpaper that says Oz. During the bath, you’ll get to enjoy a pink-and-green bath bomb, a soap shaped like the Emerald City, and a cleanser picked for your skin type. Instrumental versions of the Wicked soundtrack will play while you relax in the tub. 

It's bookable now for $75 with appointments through late 2025.

Long before New Yorkers could aimlessly scroll on their phones while riding on the subway, they could always read The Subway Sun. This subway poster series, designed to look like a newspaper's front page, encouraged civility, safety, cleanliness, and pride in their city and its mass transit rail system.

A new exhibit at the New York Transit Museum in Brooklyn, titled "Shining a Light on The Subway Sun: The art of Fred G. Cooper and Amelia Opdyke Jones," brings the ad campaign's story to life. See a collection of original artwork and vintage posters from the 1930s and 1940s—many of which are still incredibly relevant today. 

Queens Botanical Garden has a beautiful light show you’ll want to see this year called “Luminosa: A Festival of Lights.” With over 1 million LED lights, this illuminated trail imitates a lush garden with giant lanterns—including 40 stunning lamp scenes crafted by 150 artisans using 120 tons of steel and 150,000 feet of silk—and brings it to life with acrobatic performers, stone-carving, an artisan market and ambient music.

Need a laugh? The Second City—the renowned comedy club with locations in Chicago and Toronto—just opened in Brooklyn, and you will definitely laugh out loud there. The New York City venue, which opened on the legendary club’s 65th anniversary, offers hilarious live comedy every single night of the week.

Some of the funniest names in comedy got their start at Second City. Just a few Second City alumni include: Bill Murray, Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Amber Ruffin, Keegan-Michael Key, Chris Farley, Tina Fey, Stephen Colbert, and Aidy Bryant. You might just see the next comedy star on this stage.

The venue offers sketch shows and improv performances, along with a great restaurant and no drink minimums in a beautiful venue. Tickets start at $39.

NYC offers a bevy of ways you can show solidarity for your sisters during Women’s History Month. New York ladies are getting in formation by hosting a series of cool events, from comedy shows to workshops and more.

The spectacularly designed stage prequel to Stranger Things expands the universe of the popular Netflix show with an original story set in the late 1950s. The play depicts the early years of central series characters including Joyce Maldonaldo, Jim Hopper, Bob Newby and Dr. Martin Brenner; playwright Kate Trefry, a longtime staff writer for the TV version, has devised the story with series creators Matt and Ross Duffer and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child playwright Jack Thorne. The West End production, directed by Billy Elliot's Stephen Daldry with Justin Martin, earned many glowing notices; Louis McCartney reprises his star performance, buttressed by Yanks including Alex Breaux, T.R. Knight and Gabrielle Nevaeh. 

Jeremy Jordan was most recently seen on Broadway as the star of The Great Gatsby. Now he takes on a radically different 1920s title character: a Kentucky spelunker who became a national sensation when he got trapped underground in what is now Mammoth Cave National Park. More than a quarter century after its Off Broadway premiere, this ambitious cult-favorite musical—with music and lyrics by Adam Guettel (The Light in the Piazza) and a book by Tina Landau—finally makes its Broadway debut. Landau, who is also helming Redwood this season, directs the Lincoln Center production; the supporting cast includes Jason Gotay, Lizzy McAlpine, Marc Kudisch and Jessica Molaskey as Floyd's family members, Taylor Trensch as a reporter on the scene, and Wade McCollum, Sean Allan Krill and Cole Vaughan as worried locals. 

George Clooney makes his Broadway debut in a stage adaptation of his 2005 film portrait of the storied CBS journalist Edward R. Murrow, who helped turned the tide against McCarthyism in the 1950s. In the Oscar-nominated movie version—which Clooney directed and co-wrote, like the play, with Grant Heslov—he played Murrow's colleague Fred Friendly; this time around, he steps into the lead role originated by David Strathairn. David Cromer (The Band's Visit), one of the theater world's most reliably intelligent and insightful directors, directs the world premiere. 

For anybody who needs a laugh, comedian Kevin Hart is bringing his "Acting My Age" tour to Radio City Music Hall this spring. Hart was recognized as one of Forbes' top-grossing stand-up comedians in 2019, and he's known for captivating audiences at his shows.

He's hosting shows March 7-9, but the March 7 and 8 dates are already sold out. 

On Sunday mornings at 11am in Manhattan, GatherNYC creates the community and spiritual nourishment of a religious service, but the focus here is music. All are welcome at these hour-long performances of classical music by celebrated local artists. Coffee and pastries are included in the ticket price.

These upcoming events are held at the Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) in Columbus Circle. Shows are scheduled through June 2025. Here’s what’s on the calendar for March:

• March 2: Toomai Quintet and Maria Brea (narrator)
• March 16: Daedalus Quartet
• March 30: MATA

To deliciously kick off Women’s History Month, an all-star lineup of chefs—including Tracy Chang from Boston’s PAGU, Cristina Martinez from Philadelphia’s South Philly Barbacoa, and pastry chef Ilma Lopez from Portland’s Cheval and Ugly Duckling Maine—will be putting on an celebratory collaborative, Dinner: Amplifying the Voices of Women Chefs. The event is on Saturday, March 1 at Platform by the James Beard Foundation.

Platform’s March programming invites food lovers to support the innovation and resilience of women shaping the future of food, and the March 1 event will do just that, with the trio of talented chefs designing a menu that showcases their individual cultures and culinary artistry.

For anybody who needs a laugh, comedian Kevin Hart is bringing his "Acting My Age" tour to Radio City Music Hall this spring. Hart was recognized as one of Forbes' top-grossing stand-up comedians in 2019, and he's known for captivating audiences at his shows.

He's hosting shows March 7-9, but the March 7 and 8 dates are already sold out. 

On the heels of his Tony-winning performance in last season's Merrily We Roll Along, Broadway sweetie Jonathan Groff returns to star as pop and nightclub star Bobby Darin, who peaked in the late 1950s with such hits as "Dream Lover," "Beyond the Sea" and "Mack the Knife." Alex Timbers (Moulin Rouge!) directs an immersive production at Circle in the Square, with a cast that features Michele Pawk, John Treacy Egan and Caesar Samayoa. The hits are strung together through an original book by Warren Leight (Side Man) and comic essayist Isaac Oliver (Intimacy Idiot).

Broadway fans had a love-hate relationship with Smash, NBC's campy backstage series about the making of a musical about Marilyn Monroe, but everyone agreed that the show's highlights were its original songs by the Hairspray team of Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman. Many of those numbers will also be featured in this original adaptation by Rick Elice (Jersey Boys) and Bob Martin (Boop!), directed by Susan Stroman (The Producers) and choreographed once again by Joshua Bergasse. Robyn Hurder and Caroline Bowman star as Ivy and Karen, the story's competing would-be Marilyns, and the TV version's Krysta Rodriguez; other attractions include two of Broadway's most delightful comic actors, Brooks Ashmanskas and Kristine Nielsen, and two of its studliest muffins, John Behlmann and Casey Garvin.

Newcomer Jasmine Amy Rogers stars as the muffin-headed 1930 cartoon sexpot Betty Boop in a new musical that finds Betty leaving ToonTown for the sometimes harsh realities of non-animated New York. The book is by the clever Bob Martin (The Drowsy Chaperone); the score is by veteran pop hitmaker David Foster—who has given us such hits as Chicago's "You're the Inspiration" and Whitney Houston's "I Have Nothing"—and  lyricist Susan Birkenhead (Jelly's Last Jam). Director-choreographer Jerry Mitchell (Kinky Boots) oversees a colorful production whose supporting players include Faith Prince, Erich Bergen, Ainsley Melham, Stephen DeRosa and Anastacia McCleskey.

Sadie Sink (Stranger Things) in a new comedy by Kimberly Belflower, in which a high school English class in rural Georgia challenges the conventional interpretation of The Crucible, Arthur Miller's classic witch-trial drama, and its martyred hero, John Proctor. Danya Taymor, who won a Tony last year for The Outsiders, directs the Broadway premiere.

Two cherished Broadway leading ladies, Bernadette Peters and Lea Salonga, are among the performers in this revue of songs by the peerless showtunesmith Stephen Sondheim, whose popularity has only grown since his death in 2021. Peters and Salonga were also in the show when it debuted in London in 2023; for the U.S. premiere at Manhattan Theatre Club, directed and choreographed by Matthew Bourne (Swan Lake), they are flanked by several of their West End costars (Gavin Lee, Bonnie Langford, Jeremy Secomb, Jason Pennycooke) and a few new additions, such as Kate Jennings Grant and the priceless Beth Leavel. 

New York City is full of free outdoor art that you don't even have to go to a museum to see. Sculptures, murals and photographs can be found in its parks, sidewalks and on its buildings!

Best of all, it costs you nothing to pay a visit. Below, find the best outdoor art in NYC to brighten up even the coldest winter day.