NYC events in May 2025

Eat your way through Japan without ever leaving New York City at JAPAN Fes, the massive foodie festival, which is back and bigger than ever for 2024. The organization is hosting 30 outdoor events this year stretching through November in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens. Event organizers say it's the largest Japanese food festival in the world, attracting 300,000 visitors and featuring 1,000 vendors every year.

Expect dishes including takoyaki, ramen, matcha sweets, yakisoba, karaage, okonomiyaki, and lots more. They're even hosting a ramen contest and a konamon contest this year to crown the best of the bunch. Vendors hail from New York City, as well as other states and other countries. 

Here's the festival's schedule for May: May 5 on the Upper East Side; May 11 in Chelsea; May 19 in Park Slope; May 26 in Greenwich Village. 

Smorgasburg, the food bazaar spectacular, is back for 2024 with dozens of great local vendors across three locations.

In fact, with more than 70 vendors, it's the largest Smorgasburg lineup since 2018! Vendors this year will serve up fragrant Ethiopian stews, Hawaii-style street comforts, explosive pani puri, potato puff poutine, and lots more.

Smorgasburg WTC runs on Fridays; Williamsburg is on Saturdays; and Prospect Park is on Sundays. Each location is open from 11am-6pm and operates weekly through October. 

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!

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

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.

When Kendrick Lamar and SZA announced that they were going on tour together in 2025, the Internet rightfully lost its mind. Not only are they two of the most emblematic artists of the 21st century, but they've also built a reputation for their elusiveness, often disappearing from the public eye for years on end—which makes this joint Grand National Tour all the more epic. 

Kendrick Lamar and SZA are going to be in the area on May 8 and 9 at the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Not even Charli xcx could have predicted the massive success of Brat last year, when she sold out Madison Square Garden on her joint tour with Troye Sivan. Now she's coming to Brooklyn for four consecutive nights from April 30 to May 4—this time by herself—for any of us who might have missed her the go around. The impact of Brat will likely be felt in the music industry for years to come, and we're excited to catch Charli perform our favorite songs in her post-Grammys glow.

Six open-air night markets will pop up around town this summer, from the Bronx to Brooklyn and Manhattan to Queens. Plus, the Vegan Night Market and Latin Night Market are back! We've rounded up details on all six, so grab some cash and make plans to eat locally—and deliciously.

Ever wanted to touch one of the dresses at the Met? Or how about smell it? At last, now's your chance. 

The museum's new exhibit, "Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion," takes a multi-sensory approach allowing visitors to smell, touch, and hear the clothing, not just look at it. With more than 200 garments from the 1600s to today, the exhibition is the largest and most ambitious in the Costume Institute's history in terms of range and scope.

Here are five things to expect from the exhibit, which runs May 10-September 2.

In the resonant words of A$AP Rocky, "The nails, the kilts, the pretty-boy swag, the pearls—I think it's just being comfortable. I just express myself with fashion, and what's fly is fly." What's fly is "Ice Cold: An Exhibition of Hip-Hop Jewelry" at the American Museum of Natural History, a new show that features dozens of incredible necklaces, rings, watches, chains, and more worn by some of the biggest names in music.

A few highlights include T-Pain's Big Ass Chain necklace, Ghostface Killah's eagle arm band, Nicki Minaj's Barbie pendant, Beyoncé's nail rings, Cardi B's nipple covers, and Slick Rick's crown. While the pieces are a sight to behold up-close, the exhibit carries a much deeper meaning, especially as New York City wraps up its 50 years of hip-hop celebrations.

See "Ice Cold: An Exhibition of Hip-Hop Jewelry" now at the American Museum of Natural History with general admission, which is pay-as-you-wish for New Yorkers. Find it in the Mignone Halls of Gems and Minerals on the first floor.

Screaming and crying girls. Innumerable hotel rooms. Nonstop camera flashes. A group of four Liverpudlian guys in the middle of it all. Beatlemania made an indelible mark on history and on our lives.

Sir Paul McCartney, the group’s bassist and one of two lead singers, is showcasing more than 250 of his own photographs that illustrate the intensity of this historical moment, but also the quiet, personal moments unseen by millions of fans in “Paul McCartney Photographs 1963–64: Eyes of the Storm” at the Brooklyn Museum. The show opens on May 3.

Inside are photos illustrating the demands of touring, the constant media attention as well as McCartney’s band members, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, who were undergoing an extremely life-changing era. The exhibit gives a highly personal look into their lives much like a family album, according to the museum.

Take your movie-going experience to the next level this summer at Rooftop Cinema Club. The experience offers a chance to watch a movie on a Midtown rooftop with vegan popcorn, classic theater candy, and craft cocktails.

Kicking off on May 1, this season's rooftop movie schedule includes classics like When Harry Met Sally, Dirty Dancing, Grease, Mean Girls, Clueless, and so much more. Also expect special programming for Star Wars day, AAPI Heritage Month, Black Music Month, and Pride Month. Plus, it’s adding a Saturday Cereal Club and Mimosas & Muffins Sundays. Keep scrolling for the full lineup, and get tickets here.

If you know anything about hip-hop, then you understand that it’s not just a genre of music—it’s an entire lifestyle, complete with its own lexicon, fashion and accessories. 

The American Museum of Natural History is going to pay homage to some of the most iconic custom-made jewelry in hip-hop history with its exhibit “Ice Cold,” which opens May 9 in celebration of the genre’s 50th anniversary. 

The exhibition will showcase jewelry from the 1980s until today and will include Slick Rick’s gem-encrusted crown, the Notorious B.I.G.’s gold ‘Jesus piece’, Nicki Minaj’s sparkling ‘Barbie’ pendant, and pieces from Erykah Badu, A$AP Rocky, Joey Bada$$, A$AP Ferg, and Tyler, the Creator, among many other legendary pieces of bling.

Art nerds can’t wait until the Whitney Biennial, which happens every two years. It’s always a gigantic showcase of some of the coolest, newest, and most provocative art at a big New York City museum. It’s the Whitney Museum of American Art’s landmark exhibition series and the longest-running survey of American Art, on view through August 11.

This year, the Biennial is themed “Even Better Than The Real Thing” and features the work of 71 artists and collectives. It does a lot in this iteration. The survey examines rapidly advancing technologies and machine learning tools; the body and subjectivity as it pertains to queer identity, body sovereignty, motherhood, the aging body, and the trans body; material agency and the use of unstable media; and lots more.

Overarching is the focus on “the real,” an extremely present topic these days with the onslaught of incorrect ChatGPT answers, horrifying deep fakes and art made by AI. 

Think bugs are creepy? Think again. That's the message of IMAGINARI, an immersive art and science experience that opened today in Manhattan. 

The year-long exhibition called The Insect World shows just how cool—and important—bugs actually are. You’ll get to walk through fields of 6-foot flowers, come face-to-face with Picasso bug artwork, and see a mantis partying under a disco ball. Larger-than-life ladybug sculptures dot the floor, and 200 faux monarch butterflies perch on a 12-foot cherry blossom tree. It all adds up to an important message of environmental stewardship. Tickets are on sale now for $36; the all-ages exhibition will be on view for one year.

On the far east edge of Manhattan, 18,750 glowing orbs of light sprout from the ground. They gleam in green, blue, pink, and purple tones, each one emerging from the Earth like an avant-garde flower. The fiber optic lights are part of an otherworldly experience called Field of Light. 

The 6-acre installation was installed by British artist Bruce Munro who’s known for using light to create an emotional response. Though the skyline is visible from Field of Light, the installation feels far away from the typical hustle and bustle of the city, allowing me to detach from my daily worries. 

Expect to spend about 30 minutes strolling through Field of Light. While the exhibit is free to visit through fall, you will need to reserve a ticket online; a standby line is available for walkups. Find Field of Light at East 41st Street between First Avenue and FDR Drive.

One of the most anticipated events at the Met is their annual Roof Garden Commission, an art series in which the New York institution chooses one artist to use the coveted space as their canvas. 

This year’s commission, which was just unveiled today, sends a playful yet extremely poignant and timely message about children who find themselves in war zones. The exhibition, titled Abetare, is on view through October 27; it's included with general admission.

The artist, Petrit Halilaj, was born in war-torn Kosovo in 1986 and had to flee his home during the Yugoslav Wars in 1998. He lived with his family in a refugee camp in Serbia for a year, where he drew pictures of war scenes that he had witnessed back home. The sculptures on the roof were inspired by doodles Halilaj found at the school he attended in Runk, Kosovo before it was demolished in 2010.

Turns out, pickleball was not just a passing fad. 

Doubling down on the popularity of the sport, Central Park is gearing up for the return of the 14-court pickleball installation via CityPickle that took over Wollman Rink in 2023. This year, the experience will officially debut on May 1, offering players of all skill levels the chance to reserve courts or partake in open play sessions between 8am and 9pm daily.

The Harlem Renaissance had an indisputable impact on American culture, but chances are that you probably didn’t spend much time learning about it in school. That’s because, even though it shaped global literature, music, and art, Black Americans’ historical contributions have been systematically erased or gone unacknowledged for centuries.

A groundbreaking exhibit opening at the Metropolitan Museum of Art hopes to be a part of rectifying the erasure and celebrating Black artists and intellectuals in its newest exhibit. "The Harlem Renaissance and Transatlantic Modernism." 

The exhibit presents 160 works by Black artists from the Harlem Renaissance and delves into many different aspects of the movement, mostly through the lens of paintings and sculpture. You can get your tickets here; the show's on view through July 28.

New York City’s culinary scene would be nothing without its street vendors, many of whom serve some of the most delicious food across the five boroughs but rarely get the flowers they deserve. 

To spread more love to these small independent businesses, the Street Vendor Project is organizing a giant, citywide scavenger hunt that will encourage New Yorkers to learn more about the street vending community and put some new spots on their foodie radars.

The multi-part scavenger hunt is taking place across Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens from May 4-17. To play the game, you’ll form a team of up to 10 friends via their registration page. 

Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz are more often associated with their musical artistry, but the NYC-native couple has also amassed an impressive visual art collection. This winter, you'll be able to see their collection at the Brooklyn Museum in a new exhibit called "Giants: Art from the Dean Collection of Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys."

The exhibition will feature more than 100 major artworks by important Black American, African, and African diasporic artists including Gordon Parks, Kehinde Wiley, Hassan Hajjaj, Barkley L. Hendricks, Lorna Simpson, and Amy Sherald. The show featuring giants in the art world runs through July 7, 2024. 

The New York Botanical Garden is getting in on the Mad Hatter fun with a new, garden-wide exhibition for 2024 titled “Wonderland: Curious Nature.”

On view from Saturday, May 18 through Sunday, October 27, 2024, the enchanting display will “feature horticultural and contemporary art installations that evoke the spirit of exploration and uncanny nature of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” per the NYBG.

Inspired by the classic tale and its 1871 sequel, Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There, the immersive exhibition will be a true sensory adventure, with visitors able to explore a variety of mind-bending experiences set throughout the botanical garden’s iconic glasshouse, the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, in the LuEsther T. Mertz Library Building and across its stunning 250-acre grounds.

For more than a century, the Statue of Liberty has offered inspiration as a beacon of freedom, equality, and democracy. And for just as long, she has also served as an inspiration for tattoo artists. 

A new exhibit at City Reliquary, a jewel box of a museum in Brooklyn's Williamsburg neighborhood, features vintage Statue of Liberty tattoos. As the first show devoted to Lady Liberty ink, it also traces tattooing history in NYC since the 1800s. "Liberty the Tattooed Lady: The Great Bartholdi Statue as Depicted in Tattooing" is now open through January 12, 2025.

The exhibition spotlights antique flash, vintage photographs, drawings, and other ephemera that show how Lady Liberty has been a popular subject in tattooing for as long as she’s stood in New York Harbor. You'll even get to see vintage tattoo art that's never been on display before.

Let’s face it: Between all the noise, how expensive everything is, and how fast we all gotta move, New York isn’t the most conducive for fostering great mental health, which is why any event that prioritizes our psychological wellbeing always feels refreshing.

Sound Mind Music Festival for Mental Health is the perfect example of an event that wants to get serious about mental health while still having fun, and it’s been going strong for several years. On Saturday, May 18, the festival is returning for its sixth year of celebrations that will include a free, open-air event in the streets of Brooklyn. 

The festival will take place on Jefferson Street between Irving Avenue and Wyckoff Avenue in Bushwick starting at 12pm, and will feature sets from musician Kevin Morby, MisterWives, Bailen and SHAED. 

The Rooftop at Pier 17 is planning a packed summer of musical performances with more than 60 outdoor shows. The panoramic views, the chill vibe, and the stellar acoustics make it a truly special spot to see a show. 

The sixth Summer Concert Series on The Rooftop at Pier 17 features more than 60 artists in genres from rap (Isaiah Rashad) to rock (Social Distortion) to electronic (Electric Callboy) and more. Plus, there are several bands on the roster that will make Millennials swoon with nostalgia (like Taking Back Sunday, Something Corporate, Two Door Cinema Club, and Mayday Parade). Get tickets here.  

One of the surest signs of spring: Beloved amusement park Luna Park in Coney Island reopens! Amusement park staples will still entertain you this summer, but new rides and upgrades are also in the works.

First off: Electric Eden Raceway, a completely new attraction featuring sustainable, electric-powered Go-Karts, will open later this season. Plus, the park's restaurants and concession stands "will be elevating their menus with even more delicious food and beverage options," park officials said.

Bryant Park Picnic Performances are coming back for 2024. There's a long list of 25 live music, dance, and theater events that’ll occur May 31 to September 13.

For May, head to the park on May 31 to enjoy New York City Opera's Puccini Celebration. As usual, there are no tickets required (it’s free) and there will be more than 700 picnic blankets for audience members to borrow and chairs available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Great authors help readers understand the world, and this upcoming literary festival invites everyone to understand their fascinating writing process. 

The PEN World Voices Festival is back for its 20th edition running from May 8 to 11 in New York City, with most events in Greenwich Village. With 100 writers featured in 35 events, the festival celebrates the power of literature both to transport and galvanize. The festival features literary superstars like Roxane Gay, Min Jin Lee, Tara Westover, Joyce Carol Oates, and Jodi Picoult. 

Here's the full event list. Festival passes are available for $75, though you can also buy one-off tickets to each event.

Digital art and poetry will combine for a dive into Afrocentricity and Afrofuturism at this new immersive exhibit in Chelsea. "Aṣẹ: Afro Frequencies" is now open at ARTECHOUSE and runs all summer.

The digital art exhibition promises a "vibrant reflection upon the past, present, and future of the Black experience." It's told through the perspective of London-based Afro-surrealist digital artist Vince Fraser alongside evocative poetry by ursula rucker.

Both artists worked to honor the legacy, struggles, and complexities of the Black experience in their work. Even the exhibition's title, "Aṣẹ" stems from a powerful mantra, affirmation, and philosophical belief held by the Yoruba people of West Africa, meaning "so will it be." (By the way, that's pronounced as AH-shay.)

The Rubin Museum, that legendary building in Chelsea that has housed the largest collection of Himalayan art in the world for two decades, is permanently closing its physical space later this year. As sad as this is for New York’s culture scene, New Yorkers at least get to enjoy the museum until October, and you should definitely plan to make the most of it until then. 

The museum’s last exhibit, “Reimagine: Himalayan Art Now,” will be an appropriate, forward-looking nod to 32 contemporary artists from the Himalayas and the Asian diaspora whose work will be shown in dialogue with objects from the museum’s existing collection.

The exhibit will continue all the way through the museum's physical closing on October 6. Expect to see 32 new commissions and work across mediums, including painting, sculpture, sound, video, performance and more.

The author and illustrator who ignited our childhood imaginations with tales of cuddly bunnies, mischievous squirrels and daring ducks is getting a well-deserved spotlight in NYC.

The wholesome and beautiful works of beloved children’s author and land conservationist Beatrix Potter are now on view at The Morgan Library & Museum through June 9.

“Beatrix Potter: Drawn to Nature” is the most darling show in the city right now. The exhibition even features a delightful recreation of Potter’s home that you can actually sit and read in.

Board the gigantic aircraft carrier docked along the Hudson River for a trip to space this spring. The Intrepid Museum will soon host "Apollo: When We Went to the Moon," the largest temporary exhibition in its four-decade history. 

The exhibit, which runs through September 2, blasts off into an exploration of the space race, both as a scientific feat and as an inspiration for millions. The new exhibit is included with museum admission.

Visitors can climb aboard a lunar rover model, leave footprints on the Moon via a virtual moonwalk, and see Apollo artifacts. "Apollo: When We Went to the Moon" spans 9,000 square feet in the museum’s Space Shuttle Pavilion where it'll join the Space Shuttle Enterprise. 

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.

As she donned the black robe for her role on the Supreme Court, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was known to adorn the traditional garment with a wide array of collars and necklaces. 

Now, her fashion is getting the spotlight in a new photography exhibit called "RBG Collars: Photographs by Elinor Carucci." See it at The Jewish Museum on the Upper East Side through May 27, 2024. 

The installation features two dozen photographs of the late justice’s collars and necklaces taken shortly after Ginsburg died in 2020. This is the first time the Carucci’s photographs are being shown at the Jewish Museum since the images were acquired in 2021.

Ahoy, sailors! Fleet Week NYC 2024 is a celebration in New York City honoring the members of the United States Navy, Coast Guard and Marine Corps. From May 22-28, the weeklong party includes discussions, ship tours, performances and military fun.

On Memorial Day 2024, NYC will kick off the start to summer with tons of events. Memorial Day isn’t just about day-drinking and savoring the long weekend—it’s also about honoring the men and women who have died while serving in our armed forces. So before you chow down on the best BBQ in the city and line up for the best Memorial Day sample sales, remember the sacrifices made for the red, white and blue.