The best things to do in NYC this weekend
The best things to do in NYC this weekend include Bronx Harvest Festival, Eataly Restaurant Fest and Salon du Chocolat.
Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays are meant to be filled with enough activities to get you through the chaos that is a New York workweek. For the best things to do in NYC this weekend, it's all about fairs and festivals. Eataly has their annual Restaurant Fest where you can say ciao to affordable prix-fix menus of Italian food. Bronx Night Market is throwing their first ever fall festival with loads of local vendors and music to get down to. There's also a massive chocolate fest (yup, you read that right) that's basically a real-life Willy Wonka factory at the Javits Center. Check out more ideas below on our list of the best things to do in NYC this weekend.
RECOMMENDED: Full list of the best things to do in NYC
Things to do in NYC this weekend
Bronx Harvest Festival
Bronx Night Market, the borough's largest celebration of cuisine and culture, is throwing its first-ever fall fest. While you nibble on bites from more than 60 vendors, up-and-coming local performers and DJs will keep the vibes hot and heavy. Stop by the beer, cider, and wine garden for live music and a festive pumpkin patch with outdoor games.
Salon du Chocolat
Indulge in chocolatey goodness with the return of Salon du Chocolat! After an eight-year hiatus, the sweet celebration will return to NYC with a full lineup of events at the Javits Center including taste tests, demos and even a chocolate fashion show and chocolate sculpting! Kiddos will get to enjoy activities, workshops and other offerings during Salon du Chocolat Junior.
Reserve a glass cabin to dine in at the Hoxton
The stylish Hoxton hotel in Williamsburg has launched a Winter Hideaway experience where you and your friends can dine in your very own gorgeous glass house in a courtyard. Oh, you fancy, huh. Inside the festive houses, you’ll find cozy blankets, holiday-themed treats, and a long dreamy table for you and your crew to pal around at while enjoying the family-style sharing menu. You can expect to find delicious bites to choose from like orecchiette with squash, walnuts, sage, truffle, brown butter and a wood-roasted beet salad with marinated figs, feta, pistachios, hibiscus vinaigrette—created just for the pop-up. To make it the ultimate treat-yourself-evening, there are also options to add-on a cheese fondue set-up for six, a warm cookie spread for the table or—most enticing of all—a rotating selection of homemade pies like apple, s'mores, pecan and pumpkin. Hoping to warm up with a little booze? Opt for cocktail pairings, or flights, with the seasonal feast. You can grab a table now through March for one of two seatings each night from 5pm-9pm, seven days a week. (Weekend brunch is set to become available in late November.)
Eataly Restaurant Fest
This month, say ciao to fall at Eataly's two-week dining bash: The Flatiron and Financial District locations are offering a two-course prix-fixe lunch or dinner ($18-$28), so you can eat your body weight in amazing Italian fare, such as house-made pasta and Neapolitan pizza. For $25, you can also add a bottle of vino. When in Naples, right?
Secret Loft
Head there this weekend for free pizza and a top-notch lineup, hosted by Courtney Maginnis (Comedy Central) and featuring Aminah Imani (Comedy at the Knitting Factory), Sam Morrison (StandUp NBC), Isabel Hagen (New York Comedy Club), Daniel Simonsen (The Late Show), Reg Thomas (New York Comedy Festival) and Boris Khaykin (CollegeHumor). facebook.com/secretloft
Explore Brooklyn Navy Yard after shopping at the new Wegmans
A shipbuilding center since the Revolutionary War, the Brooklyn Navy Yard reopened in 2011, after having lain dormant for nearly 50 years. The once under-the-radar area is again buzzing with spirit, from food halls, creative office spaces and the brand-new Wegmans, an outpost of the cult-favorite grocery chain currently drawing frantic foot traffic. Make a day of your visit to the 300-acre waterfront industrial complex with a ride on the NYC Ferry, then navigate between the old and the new. Wondering where to explore once there? Kick-off your day sipping java at Parlor Coffee Roasters (but plan accordingly as the popular spot is open to the public only on Sundays from 10am to 2pm). Then, to learn cool shit about the area, BLDG 92 hosts fascinating exhibitions on the history of the yard—you can buy a souvenir from the gift shop that sells items all made onsite. If you feel like boozing after being a Wegmaniac all day, tap into NYC's oldest whiskey distillery, Kings County Distillery, or hang on the roof of Rooftop Reds, NYC's only rooftop vineyard that now has winter hours.
Grand Central Terminal Holiday Fair
Forty unique vendors come together in one of NYC's most gorgeous architectural attractions to provide a can't-miss holiday experience. If your daily commute's got you down, the Grand Central Holiday Fair is surely one way to make you feel merry and bright. Explore the wide array of handmade goods—toys, games, accessories and more—before boarding your train home. Chances are, you're bound to find some great gifts for loved ones in this set up in Vanderbilt Hall. Note that the market won't be open on Thanksgiving or Christmas Eve, so plan your shopping ahead of time. All ages.
UpDating
Deal with your dating hang-ups front and center at this live romantic experiment. Two New Yorkers will be paired on-stage for a blind date, and you get to join in on the magic (or the meltdown). The next shows will go on September 27, October 11, October 18, October 25, November 8, November 15 and November 22.
Your Love, Our Musical!
As musical comedians, Rebecca Vigil and Evan Kaufman have played just about every room in NYC, and at their beloved monthly show, they play your heartstrings. Watch as the manically inventive duo interviews a couple in the audience about how they met, then spins their love story into an epic, totally-improvised musical extravaganza.
Cider Week
There are many types of apples (Honeycrisp, McIntosh, Granny Smith), but the best variation of everyone’s favorite autumnal fruit is clearly the fermented kind. And for seven glorious days, you can guzzle barrels of the good stuff at more than 30 bars and restaurants in NYC and indulge in free tastings, events and workshops at popular drinking dens.
Time Warp US
The celebrated German techno fest returns to NYC for the first time since its inaugural 2014 edition, taking over the New York Expo Center for two nights. With an impressive lineup including Peggy Gou, Ricardo Villalobos and Richie Hawtin, it’s safe to say this is going to be a big one.
Unsound Festival
This Krakow-based new-music festival treks stateside for its New York City edition with a host of eclectic, forward-thinking artists. Among the highlights are: celebrated guitarist Liz Harris playing under her Nivhek side-project, a greyer, murkier version of her ambient-folk fare as Grouper; local artist January Hunt, who layers synths and samples into haunting noise-drone; and masterful sound-sculpting composer, Tim Hecker.
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