Fifty-eight of the 94 New York events on the 2026 calendar started between July 1 and August 31. The calendar spans February 6 to November 8.
February and March: two Adirondack carnivals
Saranac Lake Winter Carnival ran February 6 to 15 in Franklin County. It was built around a volunteer-constructed Ice Palace, with the Gala Parade on Saturday, February 14. Lake George Winter Carnival was listed for February 7 to March 8 in Warren County, on winter weekends; that date was not confirmed.
No other event on the calendar started until April 18.
April and May: five starts
The 2026 Queens Night Market schedule: Saturday evenings, April 18 through August 22 and September 19 through October 31. Entry is generally free.
May added four, and two of them overlapped. Rochester Lilac Festival held the middle of the month, May 8 to 17. Albany Tulip Festival ran May 9 to 10 inside that window, and admission was free. Corning GlassFest followed May 22 to 24 in Steuben County, and Ithaca Festival closed the month, May 28 to 31, though both dates were unconfirmed.
June: eight starts, four of them June 5 to 7
Eight events started in June, and four of them opened on the same weekend. Taste of Syracuse was listed for June 5 to 6 and Oz-Stravaganza in Chittenango for June 5 to 7, both dates unconfirmed. Art on Lark in Albany was a single Saturday, June 6, and The Governors Ball Music Festival ran June 5 to 7 at Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens.
Buffalo's Allentown Art Festival, established in 1958, ran June 13 to 14. CGI Rochester International Jazz Festival was listed for June 19 to 27, a date that was not confirmed, and the Coney Island Mermaid Parade was Saturday, June 20. Hudson River Music Festival was listed for June 21, also unconfirmed.
July: 32 events, and the start of the county fair circuit
July was the busiest month on the calendar, with 32 events starting in it. The Oswego County Fair in Sandy Creek was first, listed for July 1 to 5, though that date was unconfirmed. Sterling Renaissance Festival opened July 4 in Cayuga County and ran Saturdays and Sundays only through August 16.
Five county fairs started on July 21, in Lewis, Ontario, Livingston, Saratoga, and Chautauqua counties, two of them on unconfirmed dates. Two days later four more events opened, including The Orange County Fair in Middletown, which ran eleven days to August 2, and Oswego Harborfest on the lakefront, with three of the four dates unconfirmed.
Six events started in the first ten days of July, six more between July 11 and 17, and twenty between July 18 and 31.
August: 26 starts, two of them twelve days or longer
August had twenty-six starts. Two ran twelve days or more: The Erie County Fair in Hamburg was listed for August 12 to 23, an unconfirmed date, and The Great New York State Fair in Syracuse opened August 26 and ran through Labor Day, September 7.
Five fairs started on August 4, as five did on July 21, in Ulster, Otsego, Tioga, Chemung, and St. Lawrence counties, though the Tioga date was unconfirmed. Two more opened August 18, in Albany and Herkimer counties, and the Albany date was unconfirmed too. National Buffalo Wing Festival was the last listing of the month, for August 29 to 30 in Buffalo, though that date was not confirmed.
September: Labor Day fairs, then the harvest events
September had thirteen starts, and the first three shared a date. The Schaghticoke Fair, The Columbia County Fair in Chatham, and The Fonda Fair all ran September 2 to 7. The West Indian American Day Carnival Parade was listed for Labor Day, September 7, on Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn.
Long Island Garlic Festival was in Riverhead in mid-September. Sources disagreed on whether it fell on the weekend of September 12 and 13 or on September 19. Adirondack Balloon Festival ran September 17 to 20 in Queensbury. Ithaca Apple Harvest Festival and The Long Island Fair both ran September 25 to 27. Naples Grape Festival and Hudson Valley Garlic Festival shared September 26 to 27, one in the Finger Lakes and one in the Hudson Valley.
The 2026 Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze: select evenings, September 18 to November 8, in Croton-on-Hudson. November 8 is the last date on the calendar.
October: apples, wool, oysters, Halloween
October has eight starts, and five of them are food festivals. Hilton Apple Fest ran October 3 to 4 in Monroe County, and Warwick Valley Applefest was held on Sunday, October 4, in Orange County, the same weekend. Atlantic Antic in Brooklyn was postponed to Sunday, October 4. The 2026 LaFayette Apple Festival: October 10 to 11 in Onondaga County.
The 2026 New York State Sheep & Wool Festival: four days in Rhinebeck, October 15 to 18, overlapping The Oyster Festival in Nassau County, listed for October 17 to 18. October 31 is a Saturday, with the New York City Village Halloween Parade at 7pm on Sixth Avenue and the last listed night of Queens Night Market. The Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze: select evenings through November 8.
Reading the date ranges
Each range gives the first and last day of an event, not a daily schedule: Sterling Renaissance Festival, Saturdays and Sundays only; Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze, select evenings.
