There are a gazilion FREE and cheap things to do in NYC any time of year.
Labor Day may mean the end of summer, but it’s the start of a fall calendar of events.
Put these events on your list for September, including 2-for-1 Broadway shows and $20 tickets for Off-Broadway shows, the FREE Photoville photo exhibit, FREE Medieval Festival in Fort Tryon Park, the food and fun of the Feast of San Gennaro in Little Italy, and the annual Steuben Day Parade celebrating German-American friendship.
And, of course, the 9/11 remembrance events.
Our list is family-friendly, too.
Get more NYC for less money with NYC on the Cheap
Unless otherwise noted, outdoor events are rain or shine, so let’s hope for shine.
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Best FREE things to do in NYC any time of year
NYC Broadway Week
Save money on Broadway shows during Broadway Week 2019, with half-price tickets to top musicals and dramas.
This is your annual opportunity to get BOGO tickets to nearly two dozen shows, including Aladdin, The Lion King, Frozen, Tootsie and Beautiful: The Carol King Musical
Get tickets now for matinee and evening performances Sept. 3-16.
20 at 20
The other great theater ticket deal is $20 tickets for Off-Broadway show, for 20 days, Sept. 3 to 22.
It’s the annual 20at20 promotion celebrating Off-Broadway shows, including such long-running favorites as Gazillion Bubble Show, Blue Man Group, and Jersey Boys, and newcomers including Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish with English super-titles. Although everybody knows all the words to all the songs and nobody needs subtitles.
20at20 is for matinee and evening performances.
The list includes Sistas the Musical, a new Frankenstein musical, The Exes, a comedy about divorce, a musical spoof of Star Wars, and more.
33rd Annual Broadway Flea Market and Grand Auction
If you love the theater, this annual event is a must.
It’s the ultimate theatrical treasure hunt, with cherished collectables and mementos, must-have autographed Playbills and posters, the chance to meet Broadway and Off-Broadway stars and get their autographs, and more.
Opportunities to pre-bid on unique memorabilia, meet beloved Broadway stars and experience one-of-a-kind walk-on and backstage opportunities will be announced in the coming weeks. Bidders can then experience the thrill of the auction when Shubert Alley is filled with theatre fans bidding on the items in person on September 22 at the Grand Auction’s silent and live auctions.
The always popular Autograph Table and Photo Booth will welcome more than 60 of your favorite Broadway actors.
Additionally, favorite shows and theatrical organizations will sell items at tables to raise money for Broadway Cares, which supports members of the theater community with AIDS.
- 10am to 7pm, Sunday, September 22nd in Shubert Alley and along West 44th and West 45th Streets, in the heart of the NYC Theater District.
Never Forget
Tribute in Light is a commemorative public art installation first presented six months after 9/11 and then every year thereafter, from dusk to dawn, on the night of September 11.
It has become an iconic symbol that both honors those killed in the Twin Towers, and since then from illnesses related to 9/11, and celebrates the unbreakable spirit of New York City.
Assembled on the roof of the Battery Parking Garage south of the 9/11 Memorial, the twin beams reach up to four miles into the sky and are comprised of 88 7,000-watt xenon light bulbs positioned into two 48-foot squares, echoing the shape and orientation of the Twin Towers.
On the anniversary of 9/11, the Memorial Plaza is open to the public from 3 p.m. to midnight for the viewing of Tribute in Light.
The installation can also be viewed from a 60-mile radius around lower Manhattan.
See a full list of 9/11 commemorative events here.
Native Arts Celebration
The Redhawk Native American Arts Council presents activities including jewelry-making, Indigenous dance performances, traditional storytelling with Tchin, , in conjunction with .with Tepkik, an installation by artist Jordan Bennett,
The Redhawk Native American Arts Council is a not-for-profit organization founded and maintained by Native American artists and educators residing in the New York City area. Since 1994, the Council is dedicated to educating the general public about Native American heritage through song, dance, theater, works of art and other cultural forms of expression.
The council represents artists from North, South, Central American, Caribbean and Polynesian Indigenous cultures. The arts council also hosts festivals, workshops, theater presentations and educational programs, addressing stereotypes and fostering an awareness of Native cultures from a historical standpoint, with a focus on contemporary cultural practices.
- FREE, 10am to 2pm, Saturday, Sept. 7 at Winter Garden, Brookfield Place
75th Anniversary of the New York Opera
- 6pm to 8pm, Monday, Sept. 9, on the Bryant Park Stage
Dance Around Downtown
There’s FREE outdoor swing dancing every Thursday in September at MetroTech Commons to some of the best swing bands in town, plus DJ music and lessons. Bring a partner or not, since there will be members of the NYC swing dance community on hand to dance with. Or, just tap those two left feet and enjoy the music.
September 5th – Dandy Wellington & His Band
DJ Andrius // lesson by Tony & Jaime
September 12th – Gordon Webster & Friends
DJ Odysseus Bailer // MC Dandy Wellington // lesson by Jennifer Sowden & Brooklyn Swings
September 19th – Charles Turner & Uptown Swing
DJ Brian Ferdman // MC Dandy Wellington // lesson by Nathan & Gaby
September 25th – Eyal Vilner Big Band w. Queen Esther
DJ Ryan Swift from Frim Fram // MC Dandy Wellington // lesson by Evita Arce
- FREE, 5pm to 8pm Thursdays on Wiloghby Plaza, at the corner of Wiloghby and Pearl Streets.
Taste of the Dining Concourse
Get special $5 menu items from participating vendors in the Grand Central Terminal Dining Concourse.
Participating vendors include Art Bird & Whiskey Bar, Central Market New York, Frankies Dogs On The Go, Shiro of Japan, Wok Chi, Tri Tip Grill. More details available here.
- Wednesdays in September, 2:30pm to 4:30pm
Raptor Fest
Meet some of New York City’s premier predators live and up close, but not too close.
Join NYC Parks at the annual Raptor Fest, hosted by the Urban Park Rangers, to meet many birds of prey, also known as raptors, that are found throughout New York City and beyond, They include including eagles, falcons, including Peregrine falcons owls, and hawks.
The family-friendly event includes education and activity tables stations along with live birds of prey performing aerial feats.
- FREE, Noon to 3pm, Saturday, Sept. 14
- East Meadow in Central Park North of East 97th Street and Fifth Avenue
93rd Annual Feast of San Gennaro
Little Italy’s Feast of San Gennaro salutes the patron saint of Naples throughout the festival’s 11-day run with food, games, food, live music, food, games, and food, including meatball-eating and zeppole-eating contests, singing contests and cooking demonstrations.
Local restaurants set up street booths along Mulberry street offering pizza, sausage and peppers, cannoli, fried dough, and torrone, a honey nougat candy usually flecked with almonds.
The religious focus of the event is the a customary procession of the statue of San Gennaro.
Click here for the official website with the official schedule of events
- Sept. 12-22, Mulberry Street between Canal and Houston Streets.
62nd Annual German-American Steuben Day Parade
Celebrate 250 years of German-American friendship, culture and traditions at this three hour parade full of German groups wearing their traditional costumes, marching bands, dancers, plus clubs and organizations from all over the United States, Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
The German-American Steuben Parade was founded in 1957 by German immigrants and German-Americans who wanted to keep the traditions of their homeland alive.
The parade is named after Prussian-born General Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben who served General George Washington in the American Revolutionary War.
He is still perceived to be one of the most influential German-Americans. He trained young American troops and helped us achieve independence from the British crown.
The 2019 Grand Marshall is German Ambassador Emily Haber.
Every year, a giant tent is built in Central Park and East 72nd Street, and the legendary Oktoberfest-like party celebrates the year’s Parade. Most of the marchers gather at this after-parade-party. The Oktoberfest is sold out, but the many German restaurants throughout New York City celebrate the parade with after parade parties.
- Noon to 3pm, Saturday, September 21, on Fifth Avenue, from 68th St. to 86th St.
- We’ll have a separate posting of Oktoberfest celebrations at restaurants in New York City
Food & Ideas Festival
- 2pm to 2:40pm – Chinese Food Goes Global
- 2:50pm to – 3:30pm – China’s Green Revolution
- 3:40pm to 4:10pm – One on One with artist Li Jin
- 4:20pm to 5pm – New Design, New Cities
- Saturday, Sept. 21 at 100 Washington St.
- Tickets are $10 and include a free cocktail!
- Get tickets here.
35th Annual Medieval Festival
Lords and ladies, get ready to gird your loins.
Fort Tryon Park is transformed into a medieval market town decorated with bright banners and processional flags. Performers, guests, and festival goers dress in medieval costume, there’s an actual joust between four knights on horseback, authentic period music, dance, magic, and minstrels, as well as jugglers and jesters.
Costumed vendors will be on hand to demonstrate and sell a wide variety of medieval crafts as well as food and drink. Experience the culture of a bygone era against the backdrop of the Cloisters museum and the Hudson River during autumn’s peak.
The festival is held in the area surrounding the world-famous Cloisters, the magnificent museum of medieval art.
- FREE, 11:30am to 6pm, Saturday, Sept. 29 at the Cloisters in Fort Tryon Park, Inwood
Photoville NYC
Photoville NYC, the annual FREE photography festival returns to Brooklyn Bridge Park next week, with photos and mixed-media works by hundreds of 600 visual artists, plus dozens of seminars and and workshops, outdoor projection shows and more.
The 8th annual Photoville installation is Sept. 12-22 in Brooklyn Bridge Park, with nearly 100 exhibitions housed in and around a collection of 50+ repurposed shipping containers.
There’s also an outdoor beer garden.
- FREE, Sept. 12-22 at Brooklyn Bridge Park
Taste of Iceland in New York City
Taste of Iceland returns with FREE concerts, film screenings, and a reading by top Icelandic authors, plus a bar night with Iclandic drinks (not free) and a restaurant menu prepared by a top Iclandic chef (also not freee).
The concert, Reykjavik Calling, at the Brooklyn Brewery, features Kælan Mikla, a mesmerizing all-girl synth-punk trio who have opened for The Cure, and Sólstafir, a metal/classic rock fusion band with songs inspired by the landscapes of their native Iceland. Admission to the free concert is granted on a first-come, first-served basis, so come early! (Must be 21+ to enter.)
- FREE, Sept. 12-15 at various locations throughout Brooklyn
- RSVPs required for most events
Gone fishing
The final FREE drop-in rod-and-reel clinic of the season is Sept. 14 in Brooklyn Bridge Park. Kids learn how to tie line knots, bait hooks and cast with equipment that’s provided. It’s catch and release – nothing is eaten, except the bait eaten by the fish. The bait is sandworms and pieces of clam, and only circular hooks are used, which don’t harm the fish, and protect small fingers, too..
The clinics are presented with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation as citizen science projects that collect data on water quality and marine organisms’ health; fish are measured, observed and then released. But before saying goodbye to their catches, children can expect close encounters with species like striped bass, bluefish, perch, American eels, dogfish sharks and the memorable-looking (and -sounding) oyster toadfish.
- FREE, 11am to 1pm, Saturday, Sept. 14th at Pier 5, Brooklyn Bridge Park
Ballet Hispánico’s 3rd Annual A La Calle Block Party
Ballet Hispánico takes take over West 89th Street (between Amsterdam and Columbus Avenues), its home for 50 years, for a fcelebration of Latinx unity, dance, music, art, food and community.
The event will include free performances by the internationally renowned Company and prestigious School of Dance and Community Arts Partnerships students, as well as live music, free dance classes for all ages, children’s activities, and raffles. The A La Calle Block Party is sponsored by Popular Bank, Nielson, AARP, and Wells Fargo.
- FREE, Noon to 4pm on Sunday, Sept. 29, on West 89th St. between Amsterdam and Columbus Avenues.
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