Winter Restaurant Week
January
Many of the city's best restaurants set low fixed-price menus corresponding to the year.
Various venues

Chinese New Year
Early February
New lunar year celebrations
Chinatown

Cherry Blossom Festival
Mid April
The first signs of New York spring.
Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Washington Avenue
Website: www.bbg.org

Summerstage
May-August
Free outdoor concerts.
Central Park
Website: www.summerstage.org
 
NYC Pride
June
Annual lesbian and gay pride march, ending in street festival and dance party.
Upper Fifth Avenue to the Village
Website: www.hopinc.org

Mermaid Parade
One Sat in late June
The city's most informal and most lively parade with a nautical theme.
Coney Island
Website: www.coneyisland.com
 
Fourth of July
4 July
Annual firework display in celebration of American Independence.
Over the East River

Summer Restaurant Week
July
Many of the city's best restaurants set low fixed-price menus.
Various venues

Bryant Park
June-August
Free outdoor classic films on Monday nights.
Bryant Park, 42nd Street
Website: www.bryantpark.org
 
Feast of San Gennaro
For 11 days starting the second Thursdays in September
Extravaganza of eating, drinking and merry-making.
Mulberry Street in Little Italy
Website: www.sangennaro.org

Greenwich Village Halloween Parade
31 October
Exuberant fancy dress procession.
Along Sixth Avenue

Next Wave Festival
October-December
Avant-garde dance and music festival.
Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM)
Website: www.bam.org

New York City Marathon
November
Starts in Staten Island, finishes in Central Park
Website: www.nycmarathon.org
 
Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
November
New York institution featuring huge hot-air balloons in the shape of cartoon characters, such as Snoopy, the Pink Panther and Betty Boop.
Thanksgiving Day, 145th Street to 34th Street

New Year's Eve
31 December
Street party.
Times Square