NYC events in October 2021

A special day of performances and programs, art-making and behind-the-scenes tours, food and more will take place at the Metropolitan Museum of Art to celebrate NYC's resilience and the inspiration art brings to our lives. Head over to The Met’s David H. Koch Plaza and inside the Museum’s Fifth Avenue location—from noon to 6 p.m.—for the free party.

Superfine boasts accessible pricing and representation of LBGTQ+ artists, artists of color, and other traditionally underrepresented groups. This year, see work by more than 180 artists across three fairs—"Superfine (wo)man," the largest women-only commercial art fair showcasing 80 top female artists, "Superfine MAGICK," a platform for LBTQ+ artists, and "Superfine Myth," representing emerging surrealist talent. Center 415 (415 5th Ave.); September 30-October 3, Friday-Sunday, 11am-9pm; $36.

This annual literary celebration brings together 140-plus spectacular writers from across the globe for a full week of talks, shopping and even yoga to satisfy the borough’s brainiacs. Bookend events will be taking place all week, including a celebration of childhood reading at its Children’s Day (October 2) with authors David Levithan, Mahogany Browne, Sophie Blackall, Sayantani DasGupta, Brian Floca, Gayle Forman, R.J. Palacio in Brooklyn Commons in MetroTech in Downtown Brooklyn. Don't miss the Literary Marketplace (Sunday, October 3), or its virtual Festival in the evenings until 11pm.

Get your silicone ears and Infinity Gauntlets ready: The biggest pop culture event in North America is back—New York Comic Con 2021! It's back in person this year (and online) and filled with can’t-miss panels, celebrities and all the cosplay you could ever fantasize about, this event is one of the best things to do in fall. Don't forget to binge the best superhero and action movies on Netflix before you tune in to get in the spirit!

New York's biggest LGBTQ+ film festival, Newfest, will return this autumn, with a new hybrid model of in-person and virtual screenings. 2021 marks the 33rd annual rendition of the event.  The 2021 hybrid edition of Newfest will include a robust lineup of films, premieres and panels, including in-person screenings at The SVA Theatre and The LGBT Community Center. For the first time ever, Newfest will also add Brooklyn screening locations, at Nitehawk Prospect Park and The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM). Those who prefer to watch the latest in queer cinema from the couch can also subscribe to Newfest's limited-time, on-demand platform, which was launched in 2020 to continue the festival safely.  This year's Newfest runs from October 15–26, with a robust schedule of documentaries, feature films, shorts and more. A few highly anticipated films on this year's lineup include the documentary "Mayor Pete" which chronicles Pete Buttigieg's 2020 campaign to be the first openly gay president of the United States; a tenth-anniversary screening of the lesbian coming-of-age classic "Pariah"; and "Bring Down The Walls", a documentary telling the story of a political collective and anti-incarceration dance party in Lower Manhattan. 

This world-renowned festival, now in its 19th year, features burlesque artists from around the globe pulling out the stops (and tassels) to showcase the finest the art form has to offer. This year's lineup of festivities includes The Teaser Party at The Bell House (Sept. 30), The Premiere Party at Brooklyn Bowl (Oct. 1), The Saturday Spectacular at Sony Hall (Oct. 2) and The Golden Pastie Awards at Le Poisson Rouge (Oct. 3).

Contrary to its moniker, Oktoberfest, the annual autumnal celebration anchored in Munich, Germany, with satellite festivities all over the globe, kicks off in the last days of summer. Lucky for you, New York City hosts some of the best boozy, musical sausage fests in the world. This year’s events include weeks-long waterside parties, backyard blowouts and brewery bashes—all with plenty of German (and local!) beer to start your fall eating and drinking plans out right.

This fall, the 2021 restaurant forecast is particularly promising. In the weeks and months ahead, we’re looking at three new openings from one of NYC’s best restaurant groups, a long-awaited and highly-regarded British import, offshoots of sushi favorites, exciting cocktail programs, glamorous dining rooms and unending new chances to nab reservations before they run out. Dig out your boots, dust off your most convincing faux-leather jacket and plan your leaf-crunching route to the most anticipated restaurant openings in NYC this fall.  

The Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze is back with surreal creations this year, like a giant pumpkin sea monster and NYC streetscape made of hundreds of pumpkins each. The massive blaze has two locations—Hudson Valley returns to its location at Van Cortlandt Manor in Croton-on-Hudson for the 17th year and Blaze: Long Island returns to Old Bethpage Village Restoration in Old Bethpage for the second year. This year, the blaze is bigger and better than ever with thousands of hand-carved jack o’lanterns lit up in elaborate displays throughout historic landscapes. The Blaze: Hudson Valley will include a New York City streetscape and an immersive river walk-through experience. Blaze: Long Island will show off an 80-foot circus train, a new sea monster and more creatures from under the ocean. There will be plenty of nights to see each Blaze — Hudson Valley will run for a record 59 nights from September 17 through November 21, and Long Island will run for 36 nights from September 22 through November 7.  

The first bagel was baked sometime during the 15-century, in either Poland or Germany. But despite their Old World origins, these fluffy halos of activated yeast, water, and salt have operated as a particular point of pride—dare we say, obsession—for New Yorkers, owed undoubtedly to the diverse communities of Jewish immigrants woven into the city’s history. And yet, in a city that hosts hot sauce, coffee and tea and hot dog expos, there were no mass celebrations of New Yorkers’ most popular morning fuel to be found. Enter: Bagelfest Brooklyn. 

Vote for the cutest doggo in the best Halloween costume during this year's virtual 23rd Annual Great PUPkin Dog Costume Contest on October 30. Held every year by Fort Green Park Users and Pets Society since 1998, the event is held at the bottom of the Prison Ship Martyrs’ Monument stairs, where more than a hundred dogs run around in silly and creative costumes from RBG to hot dogs and more.

The Village Halloween Parade is fun and all, but does it have a plethora of puppies in adorable outfits? For that, you’ll have to head to the East Village for this annual dog parade. The getups are remarkably elaborate and conceptual—no surprise given the thousands of dollars worth in prizes up for grabs for Best in Show. FYI: This year's location is not at Tompkins Square Park. The parade has moved to East River Park Amphitheater along the FDR at Grand Street and East River Park. 

Enjoy a weekend of free, live R&B music at Fort Greene Park, Saturdays and Sundays, October 2—3 and October 9—10, at BAM's festival, which has grown to become one of Brooklyn's beloved outdoor traditions since 1995. It brings together the community and groundbreaking artists—from music legends to bold new voices across the genre of R&B. This year, hear from Memphis singer-songwriter Valerie June, Tony Award-winning playwright Stew with his band The Negro Problem, jazz pianist Matthew Whitaker, and the Grammy Award-winning singer Mykal Rose, formerly of Black Uhuru. The fall concerts also feature dashing jazz saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin and her band the Soul Squad, Queens-born soul surrealist duendita, and more. All concerts are free and require no tickets. The concert stage is located on the lawn at Myrtle Avenue. Visit BAM.org for updates.

Photoville is back in its 10th year and the second to bring photography to every borough of New York City. You won't want to miss this year's Photoville because it is packed with 75 exhibits outside and free online programming for photo lovers between September 18 and December 1, including panel discussions, interactive workshops, one-on-one safety clinics,  professional development opportunities with Diversify Photo and Leica Camera, Photo Wings and the NYC Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment.

Starting in 2023, the Portuguese playwright and actor Tiago Rodrigues will take the reins at France's world-famous Avignon Festival. This fall, New York audiences have a chance to see him in a far more intimate capacity: performing an interactive solo piece at BAM's cozy Fishman Space, in which Rodrigues invites 10 members of the audience to join him in a personal exploration of poetry, memory and the transmission of ideas. The text of the show includes fragments of works by William Shakespeare, Ray Bradbury, Boris Pasternak, George Steiner and Joseph Brodsky, among others. 

A heart-pounding experience in the sky is coming to midtown October 21 and it's unlike any other experience atop a skyscraper. Summit One Vanderbilt sits atop the new 67-floor One Vanderbilt super-tall—a 1,401-foot-high—skyscraper. As the city's fourth-tallest building after One World Trade Center, Central Park Tower and 111 West 57th Street, it sits just west of Grand Central Terminal, where you first enter the experience underground. After a trip through a mirrored hallway with its own immersive elements, visitors take an elevator up to the 91st floor, where they're 1,000 feet over the streets and sidewalks of NYC. Kenzo Digital has created a totally mirrored infinity room called "Air" that reflects the sky and city views over and over, making you feel like you're walking in the sky or on another plane of existence. After you ascend to the third level of this experience, guests are introduced to "Levitation," a series of transparent glass sky-boxes that jut out of the building at 1,063 feet above Madison Avenue. Here, you can stand over the street with just glass between you and the ground. It's certainly not for the faint of heart. Up and around the building one more time and guests are whisked up into one of two all-glass elevators called "Ascent" that travels up the outside of the building to 1,210 feet (and 120 feet off the observation deck, which is taller than Edge at Hudson Yards). Our knees buckled on this experience, so beware!

The Brooklyn Museum is establishing itself as a destination for major surveys of fashion. This year, "Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams" continues that trend. The major exhibit thoroughly explores the high fashion history of The House of Dior, which dates back to the turn of the 20th century, when the brand's namesake Christian Dior founded the label. The multi-gallery exhibit brings many of Dior's sources of inspiration to life, including flowers, nature, classical and contemporary art, featuring artwork from the Brooklyn Museum's collections. Objects on display will be primarily from the extensive Dior archives and some 200 haute couture garments as well as photographs, archival videos, sketches, vintage perfume elements, and accessories.

Each year, the New York Film Festival (which runs from Friday, September 24, to Sunday, October 10, 2021) sweeps up the best of the year’s international cinema. In 2021, the festival will open with the world premiere of Joel Coen’s The Tragedy of Macbeth, close with Pedro Almodóvar’s Parallel Mothers and squeeze in a midway gala of Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog. In between, there’s a long list of new movies from around the globe, many of them from the best directors working today, including South Korea’s Hong Sangsoo, France’s Céline Sciamma and the UK’s Joanna Hogg. But which films are genuinely worth trying to get tickets for? That’s where we can help. These are Time Out’s picks of the program.

You’ll find the full NYFF program and information on times and tickets here.

Citi Field is hosting the world's largest hip-hop festival straight from Miami. Some of the biggest names in the business have already played this festival including Kendrick Lamar, Future, Lil Wayne, A$AP Rocky, Travis Scott, Young Thug, Lil B, Post Malone, Migos, Kodak Black, Lil Uzi Vert, 21 Savage, Lil Yachty, and more. This year's headliners include 50 Cent, J. Cole, Travis Scott and special guest Bobby Shmurda. Tickets are going fast, so snap yours up asap!

Admission is free to one of fall's must-see fashion exhibits. The Museum at FIT's "Ravishing: The Rose in Fashion," explores "how the rose has influenced the way we look, dress, feel, and fantasize" with over 130 rose-centric garments, accessories and more. The first major exhibit in the space since the museum closed in March 2020, "Ravishing" will run through November 28. Luxurious, hand-woven and embroidered 18th-century silks, 1960s-era stilettos, 1980s Halston gowns, contemporary gender-neutral catwalk trends and more are featured in the galleries.

After selling out in California, the Lights On Festival curated by H.E.R. is headed to Brooklyn for two days on Thursday, October 21 and Friday, October 22 with performances by H.E.R. and friends, Maxwell, 6lack, Bryson Tiller, Ari Lenox, SWV, Queen Naija, Lucky Daye, Chloe Bailey, Blxst, Victoria Monet, Skip Marley, Joyce Wrice, and Tone Stith with more to be announced. Lights On made history as the first female-owned-and-curated music festival to take place in decades with its inaugural event in 2019, according to Hypebeast.com.

You won't want to miss the Floral Escape at the farm either if you're looking for another fall-themed photo opp. The multi-sensory floral-filled installation is full of multi-colored pumpkin displays, splashes of eye-popping flowers and beautiful floral arbors to stand under. It'll be here through Halloween along with the annual corn maze!

The Queens County Farm Museum has a-maize-ing experiences this year that you won't want to pass up during your fall outings this year.

As it does each year, the farm creates a whimsical theme out of its corn stalks and this year is no different. Andy Warhol's "Cow" from his late 1960s wallpaper design series is represented in the labyrinth of stalks. 

The famous weekend-long festival where more than 250 fascinating sites across New York open their doors to the public is back. The two-day event offers glimpses into spaces that are usually off limits to the public, from sky-high rooftop gardens to palatial apartments. This year’s extravaganza will feature a hybrid of virtual experiences and outdoor self-guided explorations like digital sneak peeks and crowdless elevator rides.

Get ready ghouls and girls for an epic Halloween in NYC! The city is bursting with terrifying haunted houses, Halloween parties and more pumpkin-packed events. Whether you enjoy getting seriously spooked while watching the scariest horror films of all time or prefer to celebrate Halloween by leaf peeping while visiting some of the greatest fall getaways from NYC, we’ve got you covered.

The Village Halloween Parade—NYC’s creative and spooky procession—is one of the best Halloween events in Greenwich Village and it's coming back this year...if it raises enough funds. Each year, more than 50,000 zombies, ghouls, witches, monsters, robots, Jedis, giant puppets and more things that go bump in the night take to the streets for a night of costumed revelry. And while New York's freaks missed out when it was canceled last year, it has secured its permit for October 31. Click through here to learn all about this year's parade! 

The historic oceanside Berkeley Hotel in Asbury Park, NJ has transformed 13 of its rooms into immersive haunted scenes later this month. Guests who check into The Haunting experience will be guided through the rooms on the "haunted" floors of the hotel with their cameras to capture "unexpected frights, spine-tingling thrills, and surprises around every corner."

Ulster Park's Headless Horseman Haunted Hayrides and Haunted Houses is replacing its hayrides with a walking trail and additional attractions. Last year, brave visitors passed by horrific scenes like "the butcher shop" and the headless horseman himself.