Your weekend plans begin here, with a couple of dozen FREE and cheap things to do this almost-Autumn weekend. Free and cheap things to see and do include discount tickets for Broadway and Off-Broadway shows, the annual Photoville exhibit, the Feast of San Gennaro and lots of other street fairs.
The NYC on the Cheap weekend list is $25 or less, and most things are FREE, so you can enjoy NYC more for less money.
Unless otherwise noted, street fairs are 10am to 6pm, rain or shine, so let’s hope for shine.
So much to see and do and so little time.
September calendar of free and cheap things to do
Now Underway and Ending Soon
20at20 – Get $20 tickets for Off-Broadway shows, for matinee and evening performances, through Sept. 23
Broadway Week – The annual two-for-one tickets to top Broadway shows is Sept. 3-16. BOGO tickets for top shows, such as The Lion King, already are sold out.
Photoville – The annual FREE photography festival is back in Brooklyn Bridge Park for its seventh season, bigger and better than before, featuring work by more than 600 visual artists, plus dozens of seminars and and workshops, outdoor projection shows and more. There are nearly 100 themed exhibitions housed in and around a collection of 50+ repurposed shipping containers. Through Sept. 23.
Feast of San Gennaro – This eleven-day street party in Little Italy is Sept 13-23, with food, games, food, music, food, dancing, and more food. More than 100 local vendors include some of the best of Little Italy’s restarants, including Lombardi’s, Cannoli King, Ferraro pastries. The party covers ten blocks on Mulberry Street between Canal and Houston, daily 11:30am to 11pm. There’s a cannoli eating competition on Friday, and a meatball eating competition next Friday, and in between, concerts are nightly at 7:30pm at the Grand Street stage.
Friday in NYC
Accordions Around the World – A FREE five-hour festival of music in Bryant Park by bands performing music in five different international traditions. There a free blankets to borrow at the Bryant Park Shop so you can enjoy a picnic while you listen, and maybe even dance. 5pm to 10pm, plus free lawn activities.- Shashmaqam (Bukharian Jewish Music and dance from Central Asia)
- João Cirilo Pilom Batuko Band (Funaná and Batuko from Cape Verde)
- Shilpa Ray (Indie rock on the harmonium)
- Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino (Pizzica Tarantata from Puglia)
- Rimel (sister band performing Mexican Norteño)
Freebie Friday – FREE admission to NYC museums including MOMA. No passes or coupons needed. Just go.
Get FREE admission to more than a dozen NYC museums with the IDNYC card. Enrollment is also FREE.
Freebie Friday: Family Fridays at MoMath – Solve puzzles, family-style, and learn how math affects everything, from music to space flight. 6:30pm, FREE The National Museum of Mathematics is at 11 E. 26th St.
Freebie Friday – Grand Central Neighborhood Tour. FREE every Friday at 12:30, docents from the Grand Central Partnership guide you through the history of the fabled Grand Central Terminal and some equally-fabled nearby landmarks including the Chrysler Building. There are no tickets, no reservations. Just meet at Sculpture court at 120 Park Avenue (southwest corner of East 42nd Street). Tour is 90 minutes.
Saturday in NYC
61st Annual Steuben Day Parade – Celebrate all things German at this annual parade, with floats, oompah bands, and more, to usher in the season of Oktoberfest in NYC.
Lululemon End of Summer Festival – A day of FREE music and wellness, with exhibits, giveaways, yoga and more. Hunters Point Park, Long Island City, Queens, 9am to 2pm.
Brookyn Army Terminal 100th Birthday Block Party – 80 58th St, Brooklyn- NYC Honey Fest – Honey tasting, extraction demos and more. Beach 106th St, Rockaway Beach, Queens
- Stadium Street Fair – River Ave from 158th to 161st St, Bronx
- 63rd Drive “Rego Park” Festival – 63rd Dr between Queens Blvd and Austin St, Queens
- Eighth Ave. Midtown Festival – Eighth Ave between 55th St and 42nd St
- University Place Fair – University Place between 8th and 14th St
Saturday and Sunday in NYC
Brooklyn Book Festival – It’s the biggest FREE literary event of the year, with books to buy, authors to meet, and more, at several locations in Brooklyn. There are dozens and dozens of events, which you can search by author or venue.
- Festival Day is September 16 at Brooklyn Borough Hall & Plaza;
- Children’s Day is Saturday, September 15, at MetroTech Commons in downtown Brooklyn.
Sunday in NYC
Summer on the Hudson: West Side County Fair – Rescheduled from last week because of the weather. Enjoy a full day of county fair magic in Manhattan with live bands, sideshow performers, carnival rides and games, local food and merchandise vendors, cotton candy, Grow NYC Stop ‘N’ Swap, and the amazing Bindlestiff Family Cirkus duo performance, plus live music from Miller and the Other Sinners and Coyote & Crow, and square dance with City Stompers
- Bring clean, reusable, portable items such as clothing, housewares, games, books, and toys that you no longer need, and take home something new-to-you at Grow NYC’s Stop ‘N’ Swap. Please do NOT bring: furniture, large items, tube televisions, expired or open food, unsealed personal care products, medicine, dirty or ripped clothing, fabric scraps, incomplete toys and games, non-working electronics, magazines, or sharp objects.
- 1pm to 6pm at Pier I, 70th St. at Riverside Park South
38th Annual Antique Motorcycle Show – Motorcycles of various makes and models that have been out of production ten years or more. Trophies will be awarded for various categories. Enjoy a day outdoors with live music, hayrides, historic farmhouse tours, food, and fun. At the Queens County Farm Museum, 11am to 4pm. Admission is $7.
Adoptapalooza in Union Square Park – Give a new home to a cute and cuddly puppy or kitten, or a fully grown one. Fifth Ave and 14th St, Noon to 5pm.
Forest Hills Fall Festival – Austin St between 69th St and 72nd St, Queens
Third Avenue Merchandise Fair – Third Ave. between 14th and 23rd Streets
Taste Williamsburg Greenpoint – Annual outdoor celebration of North Brooklyn’s local flavor! Entering its 9th year, this block party style tasting event features sample tastes from over 40 of the neighborhood’s best restaurants, bars, breweries and wineries, along with live music and more. Ticketed event. Tickets from $55. East River State Park, Noon to 5pm.
Brooklyn Puerto Rican Parade & Festival – Graham Avenue and Broadway
Museum Exhibits Worth Noting
Black Citizenship in the Age of Jim Crow examines the meaning of citizenship for African Americans following the abolition of slavery, through Reconstruction and the rise of the Jim Crow era. By 1868, all persons born in the United States were citizens and equal before the law, but efforts to create an interracial democracy were contested from the start. A harsh backlash ensued, ushering in the “separate but equal” age of Jim Crow. Marking the 150th anniversary of the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment and featuring art, artifacts, photographs and media, the exhibition highlights the central role played by African Americans in advocating for their rights and also examines the depth and breadth of opposition to black advancement. Black Citizenship in the Age of Jim Crow is part of New-York Historical’s new initiative to dedicate rotating gallery space to covering topics of freedom, equality, and civil rights in America.
- New York Historical Society, Central Park West at 76th St., through early 2019.
Pink: The History of a Punk, Pretty, Powerful Color – FREE exhibition organized by the museum’s director and chief curator, Dr. Valerie Steele. Pink features approximately 80 ensembles from the 18th century to the present, with examples by designers and brands such as Elsa Schiaparelli, Christian Dior, Yves Saint Laurent, Alessandro Michele of Gucci, Jeremy Scott of Moschino, and Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons. The exhibition is organized by the museum’s director and chief curator, Dr. Valerie Steele, and will be accompanied by a book published by Thames & Hudson- The Museum at FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology), Seventh Ave. at 27th St., through early January 2019.
SEE ALSO
You now get FREE admission to more than 30 NYC museums and cultural institutions with the new CulturePass. It’s a new perk to use with your library card from the NYPL, Brooklyn Museum or Queens Museum systems.
Let’s hope the weather cooperates with all the outdoor events.
And if it doesn’t, here are some rainy day activities in NYC, besides re-arranging your sock drawer.
Some More Things to See and Do
Best NYC rooftop bars with a breeze and a view
Discount tickets for NYC harbor cruises with cool breezes and great views
What to do on a rainy day in NYC
NYC isn’t expensive when you know where to go and what to do, and we do. And we love to share.
The NYCOTC Free & Cheap Weekend Guide is $25 or less, with an occasional splurge because we deserve to treat ourselves once in a while.
- Unless a price is noted, our weekend list is FREE, but we usually remind you anyway.
- Unless otherwise noted, outdoor events are rain or shine, so let’s hope for shine.
- Street fairs are 11am to 6pm, unless otherwise noted.
Getting Around NYC – Know Before You go
FREE apps on subway track work and schedulng delays – Know what trains are bypassing what stations so you aren’t late for one of these free and cheap weekend events.
SEE ALSO Manhattan subway stations closed through Autumn 2018 for repairs
NYC official street closures website – Know what streets are closed when for street fairs, parades, political protests and more.
2018 NYC parking calendar – Know when you have to move your car, or not.
Where to eat at LaGuardia Airport – Top NYC restaurants and cafes are replacing fast food joints.
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Every Friday in NYC
Freebie Friday – FREE admission to NYC museums including MOMA. No passes or coupons needed. Just go.
Get FREE admission to more than a dozen NYC museums with the IDNYC card. Enrollment is also FREE.
Freebie Friday: Family Fridays at MoMath – Solve puzzles, family-style, and learn how math affects everything, from music to space flight. 6:30pm, FREE The National Museum of Mathematics is at 11 E. 26th St.
Freebie Friday – Grand Central Neighborhood Tour. FREE every Friday at 12:30, docents from the Grand Central Partnership guide you through the history of the fabled Grand Central Terminal and some equally-fabled nearby landmarks including the Chrysler Building. There are no tickets, no reservations. Just meet at Sculpture court at 120 Park Avenue (southwest corner of East 42nd Street). Tour is 90 minutes.
Every Saturday in NYC
FREE Saturday admission at top NYC museums every Saturday all year includes the Jewish Museum and the Cooper Hewitt Design Museum.
Every Sunday in NYC
FREE Sunday admission at top NYC museums including Morgan Library and Museum.
FREE Flatiron Walking Tour – Join professional guides on a 90-minute journey through this vibrant neighborhood, viewing some of the City’s most notable landmarks, including the New York Life Insurance Building, the MetLife Clock Tower, the Appellate Courthouse and the famous Flatiron Building. Every Sunday at 11am, rain or shine. No advance registration is required. Comfortable walking shoes are recommended.
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Also, check the list of best free things to do in NYC any day of the week, including weekends.
Enjoy your free and cheap NYC weekend.
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