Twenty-one events on the 2026 calendar have a September or October start date: thirteen in September and eight in October. Seven of the twenty-one were open on the weekend of September 26 to 27, and six are listed as free to enter.
Of the thirteen September events, only The Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze has a date range that reaches past September: select evenings, September 18 to November 8, in Croton-on-Hudson.
Labor Day week: three fairs and a parade
The Schaghticoke Fair in Rensselaer County, The Columbia County Fair in Chatham, and The Fonda Fair in Montgomery County 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.
Mid-September: garlic, balloons, and San Gennaro
Long Island Garlic Festival in Riverhead had an unsettled date. Sources listed either the weekend of September 12 and 13 or September 19.
Adirondack Balloon Festival in Queensbury ran September 17 to 20, with launches at multiple sites that depended on the weather. The Feast of San Gennaro filled Mulberry Street in Little Italy for eleven days, September 17 to 27, with the Grand Procession on Saturday, September 26.
September 26 and 27: seven fall events
Seven fall events were open on September 26 to 27. The Feast of San Gennaro and The Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze had started earlier. Ithaca Apple Harvest Festival, The Long Island Fair, Hudson Valley Garlic Festival, and Naples Grape Festival ran that weekend. Flatbush Frolic was a single-day Brooklyn event listed for Sunday, September 27.
Three are downstate: San Gennaro in Manhattan, Flatbush Frolic in Brooklyn, and The Long Island Fair at Old Bethpage. Two are in the Hudson Valley, the Blaze in Croton-on-Hudson and the garlic festival in Saugerties. The other two, the Ithaca and Naples festivals, are in central New York and the Finger Lakes.
October: two weekends with overlaps
Hilton Apple Fest ran October 3 to 4 northwest of Rochester, and Warwick Valley Applefest was a one-day festival on Sunday, October 4, in Orange County. Queens Agricultural Fair also ran October 3 to 4, at the Queens County Farm Museum in Floral Park, Queens. In Brooklyn, Atlantic Antic was postponed to Sunday, October 4. That put the Finger Lakes, the Hudson Valley, and New York City on one weekend.
LaFayette Apple Festival, October 10 to 11 south of Syracuse, has no other fall event on its weekend apart from the Blaze. The New York State Sheep & Wool Festival, October 15 to 18 in Rhinebeck, overlaps The Oyster Festival in Oyster Bay, listed for October 17 to 18. Rhinebeck is in the Hudson Valley and Oyster Bay is on Long Island. The Blaze, on select evenings through November 8, spans all of these dates.
October 31: the Village Halloween Parade
The New York City Village Halloween Parade is free to watch and to march in, with no registration, at 7pm on Saturday, October 31, on Sixth Avenue from Canal Street to 15th Street. Of the twenty-one, only the Blaze, which extends eight more days to November 8, overlaps it.
Six of the twenty-one are in New York City: the parade, The Feast of San Gennaro, Atlantic Antic, the West Indian American Day Carnival Parade, Flatbush Frolic, and Queens Agricultural Fair. Four of the six are listed as free.
Free entry and tickets
Five of the twenty-one are listed as free to enter: West Indian American Day Carnival Parade, The Feast of San Gennaro, Ithaca Apple Harvest Festival, Flatbush Frolic, and New York City Village Halloween Parade. The Long Island Garlic Festival in Riverhead listed a $20 adult ticket. Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze entry: by timed ticket only, with advance tickets required. The other fourteen have no confirmed admission price.
Food festivals and agricultural fairs
Ten of the twenty-one are food festivals: both garlic festivals, all four apple festivals, Naples Grape Festival, the Oyster Festival, San Gennaro, and Atlantic Antic. The agricultural fairs are Schaghticoke, Columbia County, Fonda, Queens, and Long Island, plus the Sheep & Wool Festival.
