The best NYC events in August 2026

Prepare to become an international cinephile with El Museo del Barrio's Noches de Cine: New Latine Cinema, a free five-film series curated by Ecuadorian-American writer and director Sebastián Rea. Running monthly through December, the series brings contemporary films from Latin America, the Caribbean and the Latine diaspora to El Museo’s historic theater at 1230 Fifth Avenue. The lineup opens with Joel Alfonso Vargas’s Mad Bills to Pay (August 20). On September 24, a marathon of short films from across the Americas will be on view. Then comes Jayro Bustamante’s La Llorona (October 29), Simón Mesa Soto’s Un Poeta (A Poet) (November 19) and William D. Caballero’s TheyDream (December 17). All screenings are free and start at 6:30pm, with advance registration encouraged.

The Public Theater's free Shakespeare in the Park is back at full steam this summer. Having closed for renovations to Central Park's Delacorte Theater in 2023, and came back at half power this year with a single production—Twelfth Night, starring Lupita Nyong'o, Sandra Oh and Peter Dinklage—the series returns in 2026 with two full Shakespeare productions at the Delacorte: Romeo and Juliet and The Winter's Tale. The Public's Mobile Theater Unit will also travel through all five boroughs with an outdoor version of As You Like It. 

Romeo and Juliet, the earliest of Shakespeare's major tragedies, is the timeless story of teenagers who, in rebellion against their disapproving parents, have sex and then die after scoring drugs from a local priest. This version will be helmed by the Public’s resident director and associate director, Saheem Ali, whose credits include this year's Twelfth Night in the Park as well as Broadway's Buena Vista Social Club.

The Winter's Tale, by contrast, is one of the last plays that Shakespeare ever wrote, and it offers somewhat happier hopes for lovers. A sweeping story of jealousy, love, repentance, angry bears and magic statuary, it begins in deep suffering but ends, like winter itself, with the prospect of healing and rebirth. It will be directed by that old master Daniel Sullivan—who, at 85, has directed eleven previous Shakespeare in the Park, along with such Broadway favorites as The Heidi Chronicles, Good People and Proof.  

The songs of Québécois nightingale Celine Dion are the stately vessel—or are they the iceberg?—in this campy spoof of James Cameron's 1997 romantic disaster film, written by Marla Mindelle (Sister Act) and Constantine Rousouli (Cruel Intentions) with director Tye Blue. After more than 1,000 performances Off Broafway, the ship sails onto the Main Stem this spring; original stars Mindelle, Rousouli and Frankie Grande are newly flanked by Jim Parsons (!) as meddling mother Ruth Dewitt Bukater and Deborah Cox as the ever-unsinkable Molly Brown. From now until the production closes on September 20, Time Out readers can enjoy a discount of up to 50% on ticket prices by using this link. 

Five years after being charged with ‘saving cinema’ with Tenet, Christopher Nolan is back to take the strain again—this time with his most epic undertaking yet. Homer’s great homecoming tale remains a foundational text for big-screen storytelling and Nolan’s boundless ambition will celebrate it in IMAX-enhanced style. Matt Damon plays wandering hero Odysseus, with Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Zendaya, Lupita Nyong'o, Robert Pattinson, Charlize Theron and Jon Bernthal joining Nolan’s pantheon of gods and humans.

In cinemas July 17

Paramount+ Movie Nights at Bryant Park returned on July 13 and will run every Monday through September 14, once again turning Midtown's most famous lawn into a giant outdoor cinema. The free series leans heavily into crowd-pleasers and quotable classics that everyone loves, including Vietnam, The Truman Show, Bridget Jones's Diary, Catch Me If You Can, No Country for Old Men, Galaxy Quest and Shakespeare in Love.

Here's the full line-up:

• Wayne’s World: July 13
• Good Morning, Vietnam: July 20
• The Truman Show: July 27
• Bridget Jones’s Diary: August 3
• Catch Me If You Can: August 10
• City of God: August 17
• King Creole: August 24
• No Country for Old Men: August 31
• Galaxy Quest: September 7
• Shakespeare in Love: September 14

Seaport Cinema outdoor movies is taking place on the Heineken Riverdeck at Pier 17 (89 South Street). The event runs on Tuesday nights at sundown around 8pm with stunning waterfront views of the Brooklyn Bridge and movie-themed concessions. The seasonal tradition kicked off on Tuesday, July 21 with the Nicolas Cage-led caper National Treasure. A string of beloved comedies including Legally Blonde (August 4) and 13 Going on 30 (August 11) are still to follow.

Things get romantic later in August with screenings of Crazy Rich Asians (August 18) and Dirty Dancing (August 25), before the summertime series finishes off on September 8 with the sporty biopic King Richard, starring Oscar-winning Will Smith as Serena and Venus Williams' father-slash-coach, Richard Williams. 

As usual, every screening will be free and open to the public, with entry on a first-come, first-served basis. And given the outdoor nature of the series, attendees are encouraged to bring their own blankets to sit on. You are also allowed to bring your own food, or order from the venue's on-site restaurants. There will also be a dedicated Heineken Zone, complete with reserved seating and a bucket of Heineken brews, available for $25; tickets are on sale at The Seaport website. 

Seaport Cinema 2026 outdoor movie schedule:

• July 21: National Treasure (2004)
• July 28: She’s the Man (2006)
• August 4: Legally Blonde (2001)
• August 11: 13 Going on 30 (2004)
• August 18: Crazy Rich Asians (2018)
• August 25: Dirty Dancing (1987)
• September 1: King Richard (2021)
• September 8: Rain date

Few summer traditions are as quintessentially New York as watching a movie beneath the stars with the Manhattan skyline glowing in the background. Brooklyn Bridge Park’s beloved Movies With A View series returns for its 26th season, bringing free outdoor screenings to Pier 1’s Harbor View Lawn on Thursday nights throughout July and August, plus a special family movie night in September. This year’s lineup will be Hamilton (July 2), When Harry Met Sally (July 9), Bend It Like Beckham (July 16), The Talented Mr. Ripley (July 23), Clueless (July 30), Jurassic Park (August 6), Do the Right Thing (August 13), Bridesmaids (August 20), Public Choice Screening (August 27) and How to Train Your Dragon (September 18). Bring a blanket, arrive early and settle in for one of the city’s most scenic movie nights.

Fashion may be ephemeral, but the images it leaves behind can become immortal. That's the idea behind Yves Saint Laurent and Photography, a major new exhibition at the International Center of Photography that explores the legendary designer's four-decade relationship with the camera. Featuring nearly 300 photographs and archival objects drawn from the collections of the Musée Yves Saint Laurent Paris, visitors will encounter images by some of the 20th century's greatest photographers, including Richard Avedon, Irving Penn, Annie Leibovitz, Helmut Newton and Andy Warhol, alongside contact sheets, magazines, campaign materials and personal photographs. 

Animation existed in movies long before Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse. This summer, MoMA is celebrating the whole wonderfully weird history with It’s Alive!, an exhibit that brings together more than 200 works spanning 1908 to 2020, from Gertie the Dinosaur to experimental artists, Sesame Street and those gloriously bizarre MTV-era music spots. With more than 35 artists represented, the exhibit also features a special focus on the genre's NYC roots. 

Before Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma hits theaters August 7, the Museum of the Moving Image is inviting horror fans to check into its fictional summer camp. Opening July 30, Reframing the Slasher pairs props from Jane Schoenbrun’s meta slasher—including VHS tapes, posters and costumes—with classic films that shaped the genre, from Psycho to Sleepaway Camp. It’s a free exhibition for anyone who likes their nostalgia bloody, complicated and displayed behind glass.

This year, Harry Styles is once more making Madison Square Garden into Harry's House. Styles will return to the road for the first time since his Love On Tour ended in 2023. Together, Together will be a seven-city global residency tour that takes him from Amsterdam to Sydney with one unmistakable epicenter: New York’s Madison Square Garden.

The 30-show residency will be the centerpiece of a sprawling 50-date tour that lasts from May through December, and it’s the only U.S. stop on the list. The Garden shows, which run from August 26 through October 31, dwarf his record-setting 15-night stint at the same arena in 2022.

On August 27, the newly restored Grand Ballroom at the Waldorf Astoria New York will be transformed into a full-size tennis court beneath its glittering chandeliers for the inaugural Waldorf Astoria Racquet Club: Ballroom Tennis Invitational. The one-night-only event will bring ATP and WTA stars Tommy Paul, Ben Shelton, Leylah Fernandez and Maria Sakkari into a room that's better known for hosting presidents and movie stars

The Grand Ballroom has hosted some of New York's biggest cultural moments over the decades, including the first Tony Awards, early Met Galas and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. But this will mark the first time anyone has played competitive tennis under its crystal chandeliers.

The exhibition matches are only part of the evening. Guests can also expect Champagne from Moët & Chandon, interactive chef stations, seafood, tennis-themed cocktails and dishes from Lex Yard, the hotel's restaurant led by James Beard Award-winning chef Michael Anthony. The hotel's Guerlain Wellness Spa will also offer wellness experiences tied to the event.

Whether you consult the cards before every first date or couldn't tell The Fool from The Tower, the Morgan Library & Museum's new exhibition Tarot! Renaissance Symbols, Modern Visions offers a fascinating look at how a centuries-old card game became a cultural obsession. The sweeping exhibition traces tarot's origins in Renaissance Italy to its enduring influence on modern and contemporary art. Highlights include the first U.S. reunion of the famed 15th-century Visconti-Sforza deck—among the oldest surviving tarot cards—as well as works by artists including Leonora Carrington, Remedios Varo, Niki de Saint Phalle and Betye Saar. The show culminates with a new commission by celebrated artist Chris Ofili, proving that tarot's imagery remains as potent and inspiring as ever. Mystics, art lovers and the tarot-curious will all find something to divine here.

Hitting a Yankees game couldn’t be more quintessentially New York. The Major League Baseball team, which won the World Series in 1978, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2009, made it to the World Series again in 2024! To date, the Yankees have won 27 World Series in 42 appearances, the most in the MLB in addition to major North American professional sports leagues. Through 2024, their all-time regular season winning percentage is .569 (a 10,778 – 8,148 record)—the best of any team in MLB history.

Grab your tickets now to see NYC in action.