Manhattan hosts many parades, street festivals, outdoor pageants, holiday gatherings, and conventions throughout the year. The following are only the largest and most famous of events; you will also find many small, local festivals taking place in virtually every neighborhood.
- Times Square Ball. Times Square plays host to one of the best-known New Year's Eve celebrations in the world, where a million spectators pack the square to witness a ball drop atop the One Times Square building. Expect celebrity appearances and a whole lot of confetti.
- The Chinese New Year in late January or early February brings a huge and colorful festival to Manhattan's Chinatown, with lots of food and music, as well as a parade with elaborate floats, marching bands, acrobats, and lion and dragon dances.
- The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show takes place in Madison Square Garden every February and is perhaps the most famous dog show in the world, drawing well-trained dogs, their owners, and plenty of dog lovers from around the world.
- St. Patrick's Day Parade. The largest St. Paddy's parade in the world (nearly two million spectators!) happens along Fifth Avenue from 44th Street to 86th Street and lasts from 11AM to about 2:30PM. Celebrations in pubs citywide happen the rest of the day and night until the green beer runs out.
- Easter Parade. Once an expression of wealth so famous it inspired songs and a classic movie, the Easter Parade today is an informal gathering of families and couples, often dressed in their Sunday best and wearing Easter bonnets as they stroll up Fifth Avenue.
- Salute to Israel Parade. Every first Sunday in June brings a huge celebration of Israeli culture, with many Jewish schools and synagogues taking part in a parade along Fifth Avenue in the Upper East Side, a concert in Central Park, and local vendors serving kosher food.
- The Philippine Independence Day Parade. Every first Sunday in June is a lavish celebration of Philippine culture along Madison Avenue. The parade ends at East 23rd Street near Madison Park. There are a lot of vendors selling traditional food, desserts, and drinks. There are dance and singing performances at the tail end of the march.
- Pride Week in late June is a massive event and has a lot of activities, including a rally, concerts, a street festival, and one of the largest LGBT Pride Parades in the world; fitting for the setting of the Stonewall Riots, the event that launched the modern Gay Rights Movement. The Pride March starts in Midtown and makes its way down Fifth Avenue and past the site of the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village.
- Independence Day. The 4th of July brings plenty of BBQs, concerts, and rooftop parties to the city, culminating in a massive fireworks display over the river (the location has shifted from the East River to the Hudson), one of the largest (if not the largest) fireworks displays in the country.
- Columbus Day Parade. Taking place on the second Monday in October, this parade draws nearly a million spectators to Fifth Avenue and is a massive celebration of Italian-American culture.
- New York Comic Con. Held in mid-October, the NYCC has quickly become one of the country's largest fan conventions, attracting over 100,000 attendees to the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center on the west side of Midtown. Many notable comic figures have made appearances, and it is a huge celebration of fan culture.
- New York's Village Halloween Parade. Each Halloween (October 31) evening, this parade and street pageant attracts two million spectators and 50,000 costumed participants along Sixth Avenue between Spring Street and 21st Street. Anyone in a costume is welcome to march; those wishing to should show up early at Spring Street and Sixth Avenue in SoHo.
- Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. The morning of each Thanksgiving, one of the most famous parades in the world makes its way down Central Park West and winds through Midtown, broadcast on nationwide television each year and attracting millions of spectators who come to see the many elaborate floats, big-name performers, and (of course) the huge balloons of cartoon characters and pop-culture characters.
- Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree. Late in November or early in December, Manhattan rings in the start of the holiday season with the erection and lighting of a massive Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center, an event broadcast on television and attended by plenty of celebrities. But even if you miss the lighting, the tree remains lit through January 6.
- Fashion Week is a semi-annual event that is one of the premier fashion events in the world, where press and buyers gather to preview designs for the coming season. The spring show takes place the second week of February, while the fall show takes place in early September. The main event is held at Lincoln Center and is open by invitation only, although many showrooms display their designs in tandem with the main show.
