Art shows, festivals and concerts to see this spring in NYC (2024)

Cherry blossoms in NYC offer New Yorkers a brief but gorgeous pop of beauty, which is why we flock in droves to see them when they bloom each spring. From the Brooklyn Botanical Garden to Central Park and even some hidden spots around town, we've rounded up the best places where you can gaze at the delicate pink flowers.

Cherry blossoms bloom in NYC based on each year's weather, but they usually begin in earnest by late March.

They say everyone is Irish on St. Patrick's Day, which is all the more reason to celebrate! From the annual St. Paddy's Day parades across the boroughs to pub crawls and live music, the Big Apple isalive with joyful festivities splashed in green.

If partying isn't your scene, there's still plenty to do like trying Irish dancing and participating in Sober St. Patrick's Day activities. Either way, grab your green attire,belt your favoriteIrish songs and bust out a limerick—St. Patrick’s Day in NYC is going to be a blast this year!

NYC offers a bevy of ways you can show solidarity for your sisters during Women’s History Month. New York ladies are getting in formation by hosting a series of cool events, from comedy shows to art exhibits to walking toursand more.

With their vibrant colors, delicate ruffles, and dramatic shapes, orchids love to show off their looks. This spring, theNew York Botanical Gardenis giving the divas of the plant world their moment in the spotlight as part of “The Orchid Show: Florals in Fashion.”

Three up-and-coming designers created massive installations inspired by thesefashionable flowers. In one, you'll see orchids turned into avant-garde clothing. Anotherfeaturesa regal orchid queen. The final section draws upon AI to create anthropomorphic creatures who don floral outfits.Florals in Fashionis on view through April 21 at NYBG in the Bronx; adult tickets cost $35.

Revel in forthcoming warm weather at the annualMacy’s Flower Show. NYC will be budding with blooms all over, but nothing beats roaming the sweet-smelling foliage that suddenly appears at one of the city’s best department stores: Macy’s Herald Square.

This year's show, created in partnership withDior, runs fromSunday,March 24, to Sunday, April 7.

Sixopen-air night markets will pop up around town this year, from the Bronx to Brooklyn and Manhattan to Queens. Plus, the Vegan Night Marketand Latin Night Market are back! Night markets start in April and run all summer long.

We've rounded up details on all six, so grab some cash andmake plans to eat locally—and deliciously.

Screaming and crying girls. Innumerable hotel rooms. Nonstop camera flashes. A group of four Liverpudlianguys in the middle of it all. Beatlemania made an indelible mark on history and on our lives.

Sir Paul McCartney, the group’s bassist and one of two lead singers, is showcasing more than 250 of his own photographs thatillustrate the intensity of this historical moment, but also the quiet, personal moments unseen by millions of fans in “PaulMcCartneyPhotographs 1963–64: Eyes of the Storm” at the Brooklyn Museum. The show opens on May 3 and runsthrough August 18.

A new musical adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's iconic novel The Great Gatsby will officiallydebut on Broadway this spring, with previews scheduled to premiere on March 29 and openingnight set for April 25 at the Broadway Theatre at 1681 Broadway by 53rd Street.

Tony Award-nominated actors Jeremy Jordan and Eva Noblezada will take on the famous roles of, respectively, Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan.

Tickets are now on sale right here.

Theauthor and illustratorwho ignited our childhood imaginations with tales of cuddly bunnies, mischievous squirrels and daring ducks is getting a well-deserved spotlight in NYC.

The wholesome and beautiful works of beloved children’s author and land conservationist Beatrix Potter are now on view at The Morgan Library & Museum through June 9.

“Beatrix Potter: Drawn to Nature” is the most darling show in the city right now. The exhibition even features a delightful recreation of Potter’s home that you can actually sit and read in.

The Harlem Renaissance had an indisputable impact on American culture, but chances are that you probably didn’t spend much time learning about it in school. That’s because, even though it shaped global literature, music, and art, Black Americans’ historical contributions have been systematically erased or gone unacknowledged for centuries.

A groundbreaking exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art hopes to be a part of rectifying the erasure and celebrating Black artists and intellectuals.

"The Harlem Renaissance and Transatlantic Modernism"presents 160 works by Black artists from the Harlem Renaissance and delves into many different aspects of the movement, mostly through the lens of paintings and sculpture.You can get your ticketshere.

"Giants," the Brooklyn Museum's latest exhibition, fits its name in many facets. First of all,the show relies on the art collection of twotitans in the music industry, Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz (Kasseem Dean). Much ofthe artwork itself is massive, taking over major swaths of the museum. The exhibition features artists who have made and continue to make a significant impact on the art world and contemporary culture.

Finally, and most importantly, the exhibit encourages big conversations that celebrate Blackness, critique society, andimagine a collective future. "Giants: Art from the Dean Collection of Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys" runs through July 7, 2024. The show features98 artworks byBlack American, African, and African diasporic artists including Gordon Parks, Kehinde Wiley, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Mickalene Thomas, Hassan Hajjaj, Barkley L. Hendricks, Lorna Simpson, and Amy Sherald.

After months of anticipation and some delays, it’sactuallyofficial this time—Second City, Chicago’s prestigious comedy club that is responsible for incubating talent like Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, and Steve Carrell, just opened the doors ofits New York location.

The new site ofSecond City, located at 64 N. 9th St. in Williamsburg, is less of a traditional comedy club than it is a sort of small campus for comedy aficionados. The 12,000-square-foot, two-floor complex includes two cabaret-style live theaters, a training centercharged withraising the next generation of iconic comedians, and a restaurant bar called The Bentwood.

A historic performance venue is on the brink of making history again with its reopening.

Brooklyn Paramount will officially reopen on March 27, with a new capacity of 2,7000 guests following a multi-million dollar renovation of the 100-year-old space.

The venue originally opened in 1928, as the world’s first theater to show talking movies and a hotspot for world-famous performers.Now, for the first time in 60 years, the venue will be a hub for live music again.Here's more infoon upcoming shows tickets.

Explore "The End of Fossil Fuel," the latest pop-up from the NYC Climate Museum. It's free to visit in Soho and offers a bevy of eye-opening activities for all ages.

Inside the gallery, a collection of maps will put climate change issues into perspective, alongside text panels about the history of the fossil fuel industry. The exhibits trace the origins of the climate and inequality crises and how we got to where we are today. Other activations include asticker wall where visitors commit to specific climate actions and a kids' corner with books and drawing materials.

Find the pop-upat105 Wooster Street in Soho through April 30. The museum is free to visit and open to all. It's open Wednesdays-Sundays from 1-6pm.

One hundred years ago, was established with its expansive collection of historic books in a jaw-droppingly beautiful building.Over the last century, the museum developed into a beloved cultural institution showcasing rare books, drawings, photographs and important research.

The museum will host a free day of celebration on Sunday, May 5, 2024. They'll open the garden for the season and offer to-be-announced programming.

Head in the Clouds, an epic music festival that highlights Asian-American talent, is coming back to New York City on May 11 and 12 at Forest Hills Stadium in Queens.

This is the second time 88Rising, the recording company that represents top Asian artists like Joji and Keith Ape, is having its festival in New York following the success of last year’s event. Tickets for the festival start at $259.50.

Artists in this year’s lineup include the viral Internet girl group ATARASHII GAKKO!, R&B artist thuy, K-Pop group Young Posse, and many others.

There’s a lot of good to see at this Manhattan subway stop.

Two years after opening the subterranean barNothing Really Matters, hospitality professional Adrien Gallo continues building his subway station empire, openingSee No Evil Pizzalast week on the concourse level of the downtown-bound 1 train station at 50th Street and Broadway—a space that once housed a Dunkin’.It joinshisTiny Dancer Coffeeon the same concourse.

“I basically transformed a subway station that was super neglected to a destination spot in the middle of Times Square,” Gallo tellsTime Out New York.

Find See No Evil Pizza is located on the concourse level of the downtown-bound 1 train station at 50th Street and Broadway. It is open for pop-ins andResy reservationsMonday-Saturday from 5pm-midnight.

The Easter Bonnet Parade & Festival is one of the highlights of Easter in NYC.

This parade is all about the hats—lavishly decorated, from the exquisite to the outlandish. Anyone is welcome to join, just show up nearSt. Patrick’s Cathedralat 10am on Easter Sunday to watch or saunter with the group up Fifth Avenue. The free tradition dates back to the 1870s, so you might even see some participants in period costumes. But the highlight is the elaborate bonnets, some of which are truly over-the-top.

If you want to participate, put on your creative thinking cap and get started on your work of chapeaux art ASAP.

Miranda Priestly once famously said, "Florals? For spring? Groundbreaking." But at Color Factory, florals for springareactually groundbreaking asthe interactive art experience in Soho takes flowery themes to immersive new levels.

Color Factory's “Colors in Bloom” experience is now open—exactly at the time when we could all mercifully use a break from the gray landscapes and cold nights.

For example, there's the Central Park Confetti Room, complete with larger-than-life pink cherry blossoms inspired by the city's first sign of spring. Tickets start at $38/person for the experience, which runs through mid-May.

Board the gigantic aircraft carrier dockedalong the Hudson River for a trip to space this spring.The Intrepid Museumwill soon host "Apollo: When We Went to the Moon,"the largest temporary exhibition in its four-decade history.

The exhibit, whichruns fromMarch 26 through September 2, blasts off into an exploration of the space race, both as a scientific feat and as an inspiration for millions.The new exhibit is included with museum admission.

Visitors can climb aboard a lunar rover model, leave footprints on the Moon via a virtual moonwalk, and see Apollo artifacts. "Apollo: When We Went to the Moon" spans 9,000 square feet in the museum’s Space Shuttle Pavilion where it'll join the Space Shuttle Enterprise.

The iconic summer music festival Governors Ball will return to Flushing Meadows Corona Park this summer with a major lineup. Headliningthis year:Post Malone, Rauw Alejandro, The Killers, 21 Savage, SZA, and Peso Pluma.

Tickets for the show, which runs Friday, June 7, through Sunday, June 9, are on sale here.More than 60 artists will perform at the festival.

If you’re a movie buff, or just so happen to really enjoy Robert De Niro’s overall vibe, the Tribeca Festival in June is capping off with a tribute to the legendary actor and producer.

From June 14-16, the Festival is hosting De Niro Con, which will include set recreations, costume exhibits, behind-the-scenes chats, screenings, and anything that could be tangentially related to De Niro—you'll find it all there.

The three-day festival will also include the De Niro Archive Gallery, which will display items from De Niro’s personal archives,including annotated scripts, rare photos, props, and other film-related memorabilia from the 80-year-old’s illustrious career.

Eat your waythrough Japan without ever leaving New York City at JAPAN Fes, the massive foodie festival, which is back and bigger than ever for 2024. The organization is hosting30 outdoor events this year stretching from March through November in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens. Event organizers say it's the largest Japanese food festival in the world, attracting 300,000 visitors and featuring 1,000 vendors every year.

Expect dishesincludingtakoyaki, ramen, matcha sweets, yakisoba, karaage, okonomiyaki, and lots more. They're even hosting a ramen contest and a konamon contest this year to crown the best of the bunch.Vendors hail from New York City, as well as other states and other countries.

Here's the full list of dates and neighborhoods.

Head toa beloved West Village music shop for a banging musical comedy blowout every Friday night. This variety show mixes music, comedy, and characters with apperances byStephen Sihelnik (NY Comedy Festival), Natan Badalov (Adult Swim), Alexander Payne (Netflix), and surprise guests.

Fun fact: The event's set in New York's oldest continually-run music and record store, Music Inn World Instruments. It's been in operation since 1958 and has been heavily featured in the first two seasons of "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel."

Show up early, save a seat and BYOB: You're in for a party.

Taking over the Asia Society through August 11, 2024, this immersive photography and video exhibition will bring together the works of more than 50 photographers and video artists from China and around the world to visualize the causes and consequences of the climate crisis.

The show—which will take attendees from deep within coal mines to the melting glaciers of the greater Himalaya—is co-curated by photographer Susan Meiselas and international exhibition designer Jeroen de Vries, and led by Orville Schell, Asia Society Vice President and Arthur Ross Director of the Center on U.S.-China Relations.

Along with the artworks themselves, the exhibition will feature a series of speaker events, performances, films and more throughout the run of the exhibition.

nside avenuedating back 100 years into the past, a new art show explores a questionofthe future: How can human creativity and artificial intelligence coexist?

ARTECHOUSE, located inside an old boiler room at Chelsea Market, is set to debut its latest digital art exhibition, “World of AI·magination,” on December 1;tickets are on sale herestarting at $21/person. To create the exhibition, ARTECHOUSE Studio developed original visual elements with generative AI systems. Designers hope to inspire visitorsto consider AI as a "creative associate rather than a mere tool for innovation."

World of AI·magination centers around a 20-minute cinematic experiencewith six scenes. One scene, called the Library of Magical Portals, features colossal books brimming with dreams and algorithms.Another scenecalled Symphony of Illusions constantly morphs, while the Infinite Maze immerses visitors into multiple parallels.

Inside avenuedating back 100 years into the past, a new art show explores a questionofthe future: How can human creativity and artificial intelligence coexist?

ARTECHOUSE, located inside an old boiler room at Chelsea Market, is set to debut its latest digital art exhibition, “World of AI·magination,” on December 1;tickets are on sale herestarting at $21/person. To create the exhibition, ARTECHOUSE Studio developed original visual elements with generative AI systems. Designers hope to inspire visitorsto consider AI as a "creative associate rather than a mere tool for innovation."

World of AI·magination centers around a 20-minute cinematic experiencewith six scenes. One scene, called the Library of Magical Portals, features colossal books brimming with dreams and algorithms.Another scenecalled Symphony of Illusions constantly morphs, while the Infinite Maze immerses visitors into multiple parallels.

On a typical tour of Manhattan, the big tourist attractions—Times Square, the Empire State Building, Central Park—get all the attention. But on these new walking tours by a local author, you'll seefascinating historical sites that you won't find in a typical guidebook.

K. Krombie's Purefinder tours,"Death in New York," "The Psychiatric History of New York" and"Hell Gate," explore the city's darkerside through meticulously researched and theatrically presented historical narratives.

Each tour covers about 2.5 miles in about two-and-a-half hours. “Death in New York” and “The Psychiatric History of New York” are offered weekly, while “Hell Gate” is offered twice per month. Tours cost $32-$34 per person;you can book one here.

Deep-dive into the works of American ceramist and painter Toshiko Takaezu with this retrospective and monograph coming to theNoguchi Museum in Queens from March 20 to July 28, 2024.

The first nationally touring retrospective of Takaezu’s work in twenty years,Toshiko Takaezu: Worlds Withinwill feature about 200pieces from private and public collections around the country, including her rarely-seen acrylic paintings and weavings, ceramic sculptures including hersignature “closed forms,” Moons, Garden Seats, Trees, and select works from her late masterpiece, the Star Series.

Following its presentation at The Noguchi Museum, the exhibition—whichis organized with assistance from the Toshiko Takaezu Foundation and the Takaezu family—will travel to several additional venues across the United States.

The pun, that most democratic of jokes: At its best, it’s sublimely satisfying to the reptilian part of our brains that loves easy comedy. At its worst, it produces a groan so gut-deep, it’s almost as good as a belly laugh. The form is mined for all it’s worth at this monthly tournament, hosted by Rodney Dangerfield impersonator Fred Firestone and his daughter, Jo.

A fixture on the NYC comedy landscape for more than a decade, this show at Littlefield in Brooklyn is like a rap battle, only much nerdier. Hear pun pros face-off in the All-Star Tournament of Pun Champions where punsters deliver two-minute pun-stand-up routines, after only two minutes of preparation.

Shows this spring are onApril 3 and May 15.

There is no city in the world that does spring quite like New York