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Best Summer Fairs and Street Festivals in NYC August 2025

The annual Aarti Hindu Lamp Ceremony returns to Brooklyn Bridge Park's Pebble Beach! Photo by Etienne Frossard
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7/24/25 - By Drew Kristofik

August ushers in the final round of summer festivals in NYC. This last gasp of summer celebrations includes some of our favorite summer festivals in NYC like Summer Streets, which stretches nearly the length of Manhattan, Brooklyn's gorgeous Hindu Lamp Ceremony, the Sand Sculpting Contest on Coney Island, the Hong Kong Dragon Boat Fest, and, of course, Arthur Ashe Kids' Day at the US Open. We've found more than two dozen summer festivals in NYC this August and the best part: They're (almost) all FREE.

As always, if an event piques your interest, click through to our listing for all the details, including addresses and times, and any reservation requirements.

More Ultimate Summer Activities in NYC

OUR LATEST VIDEOS

Top Fairs and Summer Festivals in NYC August 2025

BAAND Together Dance Fest at Lincoln Center

Upper West Side – FREE
Tuesday, July 29-Saturday, August 2, 2025
See five of NYC’s most iconic dance companies—Ballet Hispánico, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, and Dance Theatre of Harlem—as the BAAND Together Dance Festival returns to the Koch Theatre.    READ MORE

Summer Streets

Multiple Locations – FREE
Saturdays August 2, 9, 16, and 23, 2025
New York's favorite car-free street festival returns as Summer Streets opens miles of NYC streets for people to play, run, walk, and bike across multiple weeks and in all five boroughs. READ MORE

National Night Out in St. Catherine's Park

Upper East Side – FREE
Tuesday, August 5, 2025
The 19th precinct hosts an annual National Night Out celebration that includes delicious food, music, raffle prizes, and plenty of fun activities. Meet leaders and personnel from your local precinct and engage with neighbors, community members, and local businesses.  READ MORE

Sunset Film Festival in Carl Schurz Park

Upper East Side – FREE
Wednesday, August 6 and Wednesday, August 13, 2025
Carl Schurz's all-too-brief foray into outdoor evening films includes two family-friendly favorites this summer. READ MORE

Arte Pa Mi Gente: 2nd Latiné Children's Music Day at Teatro SEA

Lower East Side – FREE
Saturday, August 9, 2025
Teatro SEA hosts a spectacular afternoon of music, dance, culture, and community. The free outdoor celebration features an exciting lineup of top-tier performers dedicated to uplifting Latiné children’s music and culture, including Grammy Award-winning artist Lucy Kalantari.   READ MORE

Sprinkler Day at Asphalt Green

Upper East Side – FREE
Saturday, August 9, 2025
Don’t let the soaring summer temperatures discourage you from enjoying the outdoors. Cool off by splashing around in Asphalt Green’s high-powered sprinklers and slip and slides. READ MORE

Summer for the City: Ruidosa Fest at Lincoln Center

Upper West Side – FREE
Saturday, August 9, 2025
The first fully women-led music festival in Latin America returns to Summer for the City for the second year in a row, with individual live concert sets from an internationally sourced, all-women lineup of pan-Latin powerhouses. READ MORE

Open House at the Museum of Arts and Design

Columbus Circle – FREE
Saturday, August 9, 2025
The Museum of Arts and Design welcomes makers of all ages for a day of free admission and exhibition-inspired creative projects to spark your inner artist! Cool off with a movie in The Theater at MAD, explore the exhibitions, and create a work of art with MAD’s artist educators or visit the creative play station hosted by Brooklyn-based toy company Clixo.    READ MORE

NoMad Jazz Festival in Madison Square Park

Gramercy – FREE
Saturday, August 9-Sunday, August 10, 2025
The inaugural NoMad Jazz Festival culminates in a free two-day celebration in Madison Square Park, with performances by The Brandee Younger Trio alongside headliners Lizz Wright and Ravi Coltrane. Enjoy dance-worthy sets, tap performances, morning kids’ programming, and pop-up cultural moments. READ MORE

Jazz Age Lawn Party on Governors Island

Governors Island
Saturday, August 9-Sunday, August 10, 2025
Don your best period garb and hop the ferry to Governors Island for its annual Jazz Age Lawn Party. The festival is the world’s original and largest prohibition-era-inspired gathering. READ MORE

Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival in Flushing Meadows Corona Park

Flushing, Queens – FREE
Saturday, August 9-Sunday, August 10, 2025
This annual sporting and multicultural event is held to celebrate the fifth moon (or the fifth month) of the lunar calendar. In addition to providing audiences with traditional Chinese foods and performances, the festival hosts dragon boat teams from across North America. READ MORE

Harlem Week

Harlem – FREE
Saturday, August 9-Sunday, August 17, 2025
The 51st annual Harlem Week returns with live and virtual experiences celebrating the people, arts, culture, entertainment, and history of Harlem, centered around the theme, “Black Constellation: Mapping Our Joy, Dreams, and Liberation." READ MORE

44th Annual Battery Dance Festival in Battery Park

Battery Park – FREE
Tuesday, August 12-Saturday, August 16, 2025
The Battery Dance Festival presents free evening performances, featuring top-tier dancers from the US and around the globe, including debuts and premieres. READ MORE

Festa Di Santa Rosalia

Bensonhurst, Brooklyn
Thursday, August 14-Sunday, August 24, 2025
The Patron Saint of Palermo, Italy, gets her due with Italian food, rides, and entertainment nightly - not to mention a cannoli eating contest. The procession, with marching band, happens on the last day at 2pm. READ MORE

33rd Annual Coney Island Sand Sculpting Contest

Coney Island, Brooklyn – FREE
Saturday, August 16, 2025
Hundreds of sand sculptors descend on Coney Island annually to create amazing works of art using all-natural elements at the beach.  READ MORE

Hudson River Park's Blues Barbecue at Pier 76

Midtown West – FREE
Saturday, August 16, 2025
The 25th annual Hudson River Park Blues Barbecue Festival returns to Pier 76 for a day filled with smoky goodness and great music. Pit powerhouses like Bark BBQ, Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, Jase’s BBQ, Kimchi Smoke, and Tikkun BBQ fire up their smokers while you take in live blues and roots performances. READ MORE

Hindu Lamp Ceremony in Brooklyn Bridge Park

Dumbo, Brooklyn – FREE
Saturday, August 16, 2025
The 13th annual Aarti Hindu Lamp Ceremony returns to Brooklyn Bridge Park's Pebble Beach. Guests are invited to decorate palm leaf lamps and release them along the East River. Special guest artists are in attendance displaying their works. READ MORE

NYSoM Back-to-School Bonanza in Bushwick Playground

Bushwick, Brooklyn – FREE
Saturday, August 16, 2025
NYSoM distributes school supplies on a first-come, first-served basis at this back-to-school fest. Stop by and meet Iron Man and Batman, pose for pictures, and take part in various America-themed activities. READ MORE

New York City Circus Festival in Bryant Park

Midtown West – FREE
Saturday, August 16, 2025
Bryant Park’s first circus festival is a love letter to New York City’s groundbreaking circus artists, showcasing soaring aerial performances, acrobatics, clowning, a giant Rolly apparatus, and more! READ MORE

Back to School Community Bash at Atlantic Terminal

Downtown Brooklyn – FREE
Saturday, August 16, 2025
Brooklyn Bridge Parents, the Atlantic Terminal Mall, and Brooklyn Org co-host a fun-filled day of crafts, games, and water fun. Enjoy DJ-spun tunes and more kid-friendly fare.  READ MORE

One Crown Heights Neighborhood Festival

Crown Heights, Brooklyn – FREE
Sunday, August 17, 2025
Celebrate diversity and unity in the community through local eats, live music, dance, double dutch, and performances at the ninth annual One Crown Heights fest.   READ MORE

Harlem Meer Performance Festival

Harlem – FREE
Sundays through Sunday, August 17, 2025
Each summer, the Harlem Meet Performance Festival brings the best local talent to Central Park and delights thousands of attendees with its celebratory atmosphere. Enjoy sweeping views of the Harlem Meer and a variety of performances, featuring multicultural and family-friendly music, dance, and entertainment for all ages. READ MORE

Arthur Ashe Kids' Day at the US Open

Flushing, Queens – FREE
Saturday, August 23, 2025
The 27th edition of this great day of family fun traditionally offers interactive games, face painting, balloon artists, prizes, music, special guests, and more. Kids can step onto the US Open courts, just like the pros, with tennis activities for all ages and abilities.  READ MORE

Japan Village Summer Festival in Industry City

Industry City, Brooklyn
Saturday, August 23
The annual Japan Village Summer Fest serves up an afternoon of authentic Japanese food and drinks, performances, and family-friendly activities. Festival highlights include Wanko Soba Noodle Eating Challenge, multiple dance contests, and a ‍Watermelon Splitting Game.    READ MORE

NYSoM Wizard of Oz Back-to-School at El Barrio

East Harlem – FREE
Saturday, August 23, 2025
Head off to see the Wizard...he’s giving out school supplies. NYSoM presents a Wizard of Oz-themed giveaway at El Barrio. READ MORE

Battle of Brooklyn Family Day at Green-Wood Cemetery

Sunset Park, Brooklyn – FREE
Sunday, August 24, 2025
Commemorate the Battle of Brooklyn, fought in 1776 on land now a part of Green-Wood Cemetery, during this family-friendly afternoon event, which includes a parade up to Battle Hill. READ MORE

16th Annual NYC Unicycle Festival

Multiple Locations and Boroughs
Thursday, August 28-Sunday, August 31, 2025
The Bindlestiff Family Cirkus rolls out its annual NYC Unicycle Festival across New York City, bringing together recreational riders, world-class performers, mountain and off-road unicycle enthusiasts, and mono-wheel vehicle inventors.  READ MORE

Richmond County Fair

Richmond Town, Staten Island
Saturday, August 30-Monday, September 1, 2025
An old-fashioned county fair in New York City, the 42-year-old Staten Island tradition features family fun and entertainment for all ages, including circus performers, crafts and rides for the kids, live music, plenty of eats, and contests. READ MORE

Places featured in this article:

Museum of Arts and Design
Flushing Meadows Corona Park
Harlem (See listing)
Hudson River Park - Pier 76
Brooklyn Bridge Park
Japan Village at Industry City
Multiple locations around NYC

About the Author

Drew Kristofik
Drew Kristofik’s career took a twist from editing teen magazines to a seven-year stint at MacNeil/Lehrer, followed by a long run at Nickelodeon/Viacom as Director of Content for Nick Online and Editor-in-Chief of ParentsConnect.com. A founding member of the Webby Award-winning GoCityKids, she’s written for Family Fun, Vanity Fair, and New York. Her middle school novel, The Time Boat, is available on Amazon Kindle. Drew keeps the MommyPoppins New York Events calendar spot-on and can be reached at events@mommypoppins.com.
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