Things to do on a Sunday in New York

Every fall, Morningside Lights illuminates the night with a procession of awe-inspiring handmade lanterns. This year’s event, titled "TIMEFRAME 1965" features a celebration of the images, icons, and influences of the year 1965. Just after dusk on Saturday, September 20, see more than 50 community-built lanterns.

This mobile, glowing art gallery will represent transformative art and artists, seeking to remind viewers how myriad ways of seeing can cohabit and enrich one singular space. 

The free procession will head from Morningside Park to Columbia University campus, fittingly home to incredible art and arts programming. The route begins in Morningside Park at 116th Street and Morningside Avenue at 8pm, arriving on campus around 8:45pm.

Brooklyn, get ready to trade your OMNY swipe for a trip back in time. On Sunday, September 21, the New York Transit Museum’s beloved Bus Festival returns to Brooklyn Bridge Park—and admission is completely free. From 10am to 3:30pm, Emily Warren Roebling Plaza will become an open-air time capsule showcasing more than 90 years of New York City bus history.

Four stars of the museum’s vintage fleet will take center stage, including Betsy, a 1931 double-decker from Fifth Avenue Coach’s “1200 series” that ran until 1947; the 1956 Bus 3100, the first air-conditioned bus in the United States, complete with cushioned seats and fluorescent lighting; the baby-blue 1969 Bus 4727, built to tackle the Bronx’s steep hills; and the 1971 Bus 5227, a “New Look” GM model later overhauled into a “Blitz Bus” and remembered for its hard blue bench seating.

Got a wall to fill? This walk-around expo unites thousands of contemporary artworks under one roof, spotlighting painting, sculpture, photography and other artistic media. See artwork from over 400 local, national and international artists. The fair runs from September 17-21 at the Starrett-Lehigh Building. 

Don’t let the name fool you: If you’re coming to buy, you should be prepared to spend in the range of three or four digits; to qualify as "affordable," the original artworks must be priced below $12,000. The least expensive works start at $100. Even if you can’t find something within your budget, you'll still get to check out pieces by a bunch of amazing artists.

This year's fair will present Brazilian artist Fabiana Preti in her New York debut. Based in São Paulo, Preti's practice explores the interplay of line, shape, texture and color through painting, ceramics and sculpture. 

Passes cost around $30-$85. 

The Village Trip kicks off its seventh year on September 19, aiming to break through the cloud of uncertainty that hovers over our city and nation with 10 days of music, talks, tours, art, comedy and fun. The festival celebrates culture and community in Greenwich Village and the East Village/Lower East Side. 

Some key events include the "Bernstein Remix!," a lineup of performers organized by Jamie Bernstein made to rethink and re-interpret her father's music and words. There's also the "Village Voices" with baritone James Martin and pianist Lynn Raley performing the world premieres of work by David Amram, Carman Moore and Maria Thompson Corley. Be sure to catch "It's Complicated: New York's 400-year Relationship with its Waterfront," a panel discussion with critic Michael Kimmelman, Dutch architect Matthijs Bouw, Hudson River Park Trust president Noreen Doyle and oyster entrepreneur Moody Harney. 

Click here for tickets and the full schedule. 

As New York City's largest free literary festival, this annual celebration brings together hundreds of spectacular writers from across the globe for more than a week of talks and shopping to satisfy the borough's brainiacs. The festival is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year.

Activities run September 14-22 with writers in a variety of genres: international and local, for adult and young readers, working in fiction and nonfiction, poetry, prose, and graphic storytelling. Events are free, but you’ll definitely want to bring some money to buy some new books to take home.

Here's the full schedule.

We could all use a big plate of pasta chased with a cannoli right about now. The Feast of San Gennaro is here to meet those needs with its annual festival featuring parades, live music and of course, glorious foods.

Festivities run from September 11-21, 2025 in Little Italy. Activities include the Blessing of the Stands, the Grand Procession Procession, and a Solemn High Mass celebrating the patron Saint of Naples. Here's the full events calendar.

Feeling unsettled by this summer's heatwaves and abnormal rainstroms? You're going to want to bookmark the The Climate Film Festival, which will return during Climate Week NYC from September 19 to 22. 

The Climate Film Festival is New York's leading showcase for boundary-pushing climate storytelling, with powerful messages that explore the narrative to shape climate action. The festival will also host a live pitch competition, sessions on screenwriting, funding and distribution, measuring impact and sustainable filmmaking practices, as well as networking opportunities across sectors. This year's festival features 50 films and 31 premieres along with a full slate of screenings, interactive programs and public conversations and partner activations. 

Click here for the full schedule and ticketing; the progam is supported by media partner The Guardian. 

The first flat track roller derby league in the metropolitan New York area, Gotham Roller Derby is celebrating its 21st year with a season of hard-hitting games featuring the league's four home teams: the Manhattan Mayhem, the Queens of Pain, the Brooklyn Bombshells and the Bronx Gridlock. On one Saturday night each month (September 20 and October 4), you can head to the Lefrak Center at Lakeside Prospect Park for back-to-back match-ups of rockin,' rollin' fun courtesy of some of NYC's best up-and-coming derby talent. ️

Gotham Roller Derby, New York City's only skater-operated roller derby league for cisgender, transgender and intersex women and gender non-conforming participants.

Every year, Dragon Fest brings Chinese vendors, chefs, artists and culture to one place. Last year, the festival drew over half a million New Yorkers. In addition to six designated "Dragon Fest" days, the festival added four "Panda Days," which will bring adorable panda-themed food, art and photo-ops.

Here are the upcoming dates:

• September 20 – Broadway (113th–114th St)
• October 4 – 4th Ave (12th–13th St)
• October 5 – 6th Ave (31st–32nd St)
• October 12 – Broadway (81st–82nd St)

For a full slate of events, visit Dragon Fest's Instagram or website.

The first international art exhibit dedicated to the lives and voices of North Korean women is coming to New York City this September. Titled "UNSEEN: 14 Artists on Resilience and Rights of Women in North Korea," the exhibition in Tribeca brings together 14 international artists alongside moving video testimonies from North Korean escapees.

See it at Lume Studios on Broadway on display from September 20 to 27. Coinciding with the 80th session of the UN General Assembly, UNSEEN invites audiences to reconsider justice, visibility and global solidarity through the stories of women who were never meant to be seen. The contemporary art in this program connects lived experiences of North Korean women to broader global movements for women's rights. 

UNSEEN is curated by Dr. Stephanie Seungmin Kim with participating artists Christine Harris Amos, Liliana Porter, Livia Turco, Mia Enell, Mihaela Noroc, Minsang Cho, Nari Choi, Sunme Lee, Tracy Weisman, Yeojin Kim, Yong Eun (May) Kwon, Yong Nam Kim, Youngha Park and Younghi Kang.

The exhibition is free and will be open daily from 11am to 7pm.