September 2026 is the start of NYC’s 2026-2027 cultural season. New York Carnival, Hispanic Heritage Month celebrations, and Armory Week art fairs, and the New York Film Festival are among the best things to do in NYC in September.
One of this year’s most important events is the start of the New York Philharmonic’s Gustavo Dudamel era. Like Leonard Bernstein, the world-renowned Venezuelan conductor is broadening the definition of classical music by inviting popular Latin artists to play with the Philharmonic. It’s a once-in-a-generation moment and should make all Latinos very proud.
September is an important month in Yoruba-based and related African Diasporic traditions in the Americas. The peak of the new yam harvest in Yorubaland marks the beginning of the Yoruba agricultural cycle. The month begins with celebrations of the female creative force in Yemayá, La Virgen de Regla, Oshún, and La Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre. Later in the month, we celebrate Obatalá, La Virgen de las Mercedes, and the sacred twins Los Ibeyi, or Cosmos and Damian. There is also San Miguel. Ay, San Miguel.
Editor Iroko Kíko Keith and the Orishas
Wow, in hindsight I notice many connections in my life with the Orishas, Misterios, Lwas, and Saints from before I even knew about them.
Many of my connections begin in September. I founded New York Latin Culture Magazine on September 1, 2012 out of Tango Beat, the world’s most popular tango magazine, which I founded on September 1, 2008. Argentine tango originates in Central Africa’s Kongo culture. I think the name “tango” is derived from “Changó” the hyper-masculine Orisha of the drum and dance. Tango’s counterclockwise circular line of dance is a ritual expression of the Kongo cosmological diagram which represents life’s journey. A similar diagram is used in modern psychology to represent the mind’s journey. Please attribute if you quote this.
Traveling in the Colombian Andes, I escaped from a toxic relationship on September 7, 2018 (Yemayá’s day). Most people do not find their way out of toxic relationships. I got out of mine through a little divine intervention. In Yoruba tradition, personal intent, God’s will (ojalá), nature, and a sacred object, are required for an Orisha to manifest.
The leader of the trip was one of the most famous Colombian tomb raiders (art collectors). She was carrying sacred Indigenous phalluses. She liked to tease her guests by offering the stone phalluses on a tray like snacks.
On a bus in the Andes, I met Mary McFadden, the famous fashion designer and former CFDA President who brought world culture into American fashion. Though American, she was a queen of Africa who became the mentor who launched the next phase of my life’s journey.
In the beautiful old Colombian town Barichara de las piedras, I wrote my first poem directly in Spanish on 9/9/18. “Las piedras de el camino” is about the stones in the road. Since then, I have become adopted son of Eleguá. The owner of the crossroads is often represented in Yorubaland with a giant phallus. In life, he manifests in stones, and threes and multiples of three. The date 9/9/18 is formed by three multiples of three. At the time, I didn’t know anything about Yemayá or Eleguá, but my life experiences and mentors made me look. From that point on, all my Latino mentors have pointed me into the African Diaspora where a lot of Latin culture originates (American culture too).
In September, the sacred Yoruba city Ile-Ife hosts the Olojo Festival for Ogun. I am currently based in a city where Ogun Balenyó is the patron and el Trinitario, the three, is central to the nation’s identity. I understand the Christian trinity through one of the sacred stories of Oshún.
While studying bomba drumming in Puerto Rico with Calle 13’s percussionist Héctor “Coco” Barez of El Laberinto del Coco, I named my bomba barille (drum) Oshún to protect me from bad love. In the Dominican Republic, I made friends with a woman whose rounded face and high hairline reminded me of a famous ivory Yoruba mask in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, so I nicknamed her Oshún. She played an important role in my journey by introducing me to a taxi driver named Miguel.
After hearing there was a palo for San Miguel (September 29), I went looking for it because I thought it would be like the Puerto Rican bomba drum, song, and dance tradition that I love. I couldn’t find a palo. You have to know someone to be invited to sacred rituals, but taxi driver Miguel took me to a home altar in his barrio.
It had images of many Misterios and Lwas, including Mami Wata. The woman who made the altar would put on a robe and sing and dance to San Miguel. She had what looked like a bottle of perfume, and asked if I wanted some. Just to have the full experience, I agreed, and without realizing it, was baptized in San Miguel.
San Miguel is a Christian archangel, but to most Dominicans, he represents the Afro-Diasporic traditions that are a very real part of the island’s Christianity. Christian iconography is more Jesus in the cities and San Miguel in the barrios.
A week later, taxi driver Miguel introduced me to an Afro-Indigenous Dominican Taína who in her pajon (afro) looks just like Mami Wata. I fell in love at first sight. She’s been protecting me from bad love ever since. It’s significant because I’m old enough to know better than to fall in love, but did it anyway.
So somehow Yemayá, Eleguá, and Oshún (or my meditations) put me in the land of Ogun Balenyo where with the help of San Miguel, I found love and family which gave me a window into the lives of Latin women, children, families, and the poor. You can’t fully understand Latin culture by reading a book. You have to live it. And the most profound way to live it, is to marry in.
These are just coincidences, but there are way too many to ignore, and there are more than this. I have no idea why this happens to me, but it does. When I asked my Cuban mentor (daughter of Yemayá) why this happens to me, she said it’s probably been happening all your life.
OMG, yes the Orishas have been around since I was seven years old, when I did something not humanly possible. I forgot about it because I didn’t have the knowledge to understand until the Orishas began revealing themselves directly through a Colombian tomb raider, a queen of Africa, a Cuban actress, the bata drum of the world’s first call Cuban rumbero, the Atlantic Ocean, a Puerto Rican bomba barile, and my own search for the rhythms of life in the drumbeats of the African Diaspora in the Dominican Republic.
It happened to me in September, once upon a time in New York City, the Colombian Andes, and the Caribbean. I didn’t choose them. They chose me. But getting to know the Orishas, Misterios, Lwas, and Saints has enriched my life exponentially. ¡Aché!
SPONSORS
Thanks to Teatro Real, Spain’s national opera orchestra, for sponsoring New York Latin Culture Magazine.
ART
Clio Art Fair
Independent artist fair (artists without exclusive New York gallery representation), runs two back to back September editions
September 17-20, and 24-27, 2026
511 West 25th St
Chelsea, Manhattan
FREE
Clio has carved out a niche as the anti fair, giving self represented and emerging artists a high visibility platform they wouldn’t otherwise get during Armory Week. This September it’s doubling up with two consecutive editions, which means twice the roster of new voices for anyone doing serious gallery hopping through the week’s satellite circuit.
Salon Zürcher: 100 Women of Spirit +
The 35th edition is an intimate, all-women artist salon. This season features Chilean-born surrealist painter, printmaker, and translator Susana Wild.
Zürcher Gallery
NoHo, Manhattan
Mon-Sun, September 21-27, 2026
FREE
For visitors who find the big fairs overwhelming, Salon Zürcher is the antidote. Run out of the gallery’s own Bleecker Street space since 2011, it invites a small group of women artists to show work in direct conversation with the public, no booth, no barrier, just the artist and the art. It’s the kind of show where you can actually talk to the person who made the piece in front of you, a rare thing during Armory Week’s biggest crush of visitors.
Spring/Break Art Show
15th curator’s fair of room installations in pop-up space is a wild ride. Some of the art is trash, some is young genius. It’s a great date, and a super selfie spot.
75 Varick St (Former Ralph Lauren HQ)
Hudson Square (West SoHo), Manhattan
Wed-Mon, September 23-28, 2026
$30+
By the way, it used to be in spring, but it is always the Break Art Show. That is the concept. But even when you break art, it’s still art. Sometimes it’s even better art.
32nd The Armory Show 2026
NYC’s biggest contemporary art fair has a Caribbean and Latin Art focus this year
Javits Center
Hudson Yards (Hell’s Kitchen)
Thu-Sun, September 24-27, 2026
$50+
More…
This year’s edition carries real weight for readers who follow Caribbean and Latin American art. The Focus and Platform sections are curated around artists living and working across the Caribbean, alongside first generation North American artists shaped by the Caribbean diaspora.
Even bigger news: the fair’s 2026 Armory Spotlight recipient is El Museo del Barrio, the nation’s leading museum dedicated to Puerto Rican, Caribbean, Latine, and Latin American art and culture.
With roughly 230 galleries from more than 30 countries filling the Javits Center, this is the anchor event of New York’s fall art season, and this year it’s putting Caribbean and Latin voices at the center of the conversation.
Independent 20th Century
The New Yorker of art fairs, produced by NYC’s own art community, spotlights under recognized 20th century artists.
Sotheby’s at The Breuer (worth going just to see the building)
Upper East Side, Manhattan
Preview: Thu, September 24, 2026 (by invitation)
Public: Fri-Sun, September 25-27, 2026 | 11am-7pm, Sunday 12-6pm
$45+
Independent 20th Century brings a tighter, more historically minded counterpoint to the Armory Show’s scale. The gallery list includes several with direct ties to Latin American art markets, among them Instituto de Visión (Bogotá/New York), Nara Roesler (São Paulo/Rio de Janeiro/New York), Leon Tovar Gallery (Bogotá/New York), and Gomide&Co (São Paulo).
Set inside the landmark Marcel Breuer building on Madison Avenue, it’s a chance to see mid and late century work get a serious second look, from collectors who know the era to newcomers discovering it for the first time.
Art on Paper
Returns in 2027.
BOOKS
Brooklyn Book Festival
The 21st annual Brooklyn Book Festival, the largest free literary festival in New York, with nine days of author talks, panels, and a Downtown Brooklyn marketplace of over 250 publishers.
Brooklyn Borough Hall and Plaza
Downtown Brooklyn
Sun-Mon, September 20–28, 2026
FREE
Downtown Brooklyn turns into the city’s literary town square when Festival Day takes over Brooklyn Borough Hall on September 27, spreading across eight indoor and outdoor stages with hundreds of authors and the largest book marketplace in the Northeast.
The week builds up to it with a Virtual Festival Day, a family-friendly Children’s Day at Borough Hall, and more than 70 Bookend events hosted by cultural partners across all five boroughs, pulling in names like Alison Bechdel, Marlon James, Joyce Carol Oates, and Viet Thanh Nguyen. It’s proof that Brooklyn’s literary scene doesn’t need a ticket price to draw a crowd.
COMEDY
Nati de los Santos es “Quejitas”
Argentine stand-up comedy
Broadway Comedy Club Red Room
Hell’s Kitchen
September 4, 2026 | 7:30pm
$34+
Audrey Mora Presenta: Standriendo
Mexican stand-up comedy in English, Spanish, and Spanglish
Broadway Comedy Club Red Room
Hell’s Kitchen
Fri, September 18, 2026 | 9pm
$29+
Monólogos Sin Propina Presenta: Parados
Colombian stand-up comedy trio
Broadway Comedy Club Main Room
Hell’s Kitchen
Sat, September 19, 2026 | 6:30pm
$80+
Risoterapia Con Moisés González
Venezuelan stand-up comedy about immigrant life
Broadway Comedy Club Red Room
Hell’s Kitchen
Sun, September 27, 2026 | 6pm
$34+
CULTURAL FESTIVALS
New York Carnival: Junior Carnival Road March
Assembles at St. John’s Place and Kingston Avenue
West down St. John’s Place
South on Franklin Avenue
South on President Avenue
To the Brooklyn Museum (in the back)
Crown Heights, Brooklyn
Labor Day Weekend: Sat, September 5, 2026 | 9am
$10 for both Junior Carnival and Youth Fest
More…
New York Carnival: Youth Fest
New York Carnival family block party
Brooklyn Museum (in the back)
Prospect Heights, Brooklyn
Labor Day Weekend: Sat, September 5, 2026 | 9am – 3pm
$10 for both Junior Carnival and Youth Fest
More…
New York Carnival: J’ouvert Daybreak Festival
People smear paint on themselves, and Jab Jab monsters go chipping (dancing) down the street, while steelbands play. Run by the NYPD.
Flatbush Avenue and Empire Blvd, to Grand Army Plaza
Crown Heights and Prospect Heights, Brooklyn
Labor Day, Mon, September 6, 2027 | 6-11am
FREE
More…
New York Carnival: 60th West Indian Day Parade 2027
Trinidadian Carnival procession, with participants from across the West Indies, fills Eastern Parkway with mas bands, steelpan, and soca trucks with great street food on route
Eastern Parkway (Utica Avenue to Grand Army Plaza)
Crown Heights, Brooklyn
(Labor Day) Mon, September 6, 2027 | 11am-5:30pm
FREE (bring cash for jerk, curry goat, and punch vendors)
More…
30th Bronx Central American Independence Day Festival 2026
Celebrates the independence of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua with a Honduran Garifuna cultural festival
Crotona Park, The Bronx at Charlotte St
Sun, September 13, 2026 | 2-6pm
FREE, but bring cash for food and craft vendors
More…
Feast of San Gennaro
The 100th annual Little Italy street fair honoring the patron saint of Naples, with 11 days of Italian food, live music, and the Grand Procession carrying his statue through Mulberry Street.
Mulberry Street between Canal and Houston, with additional blocks on Hester and Grand
Thu-Sun, September 17-27, 2026
FREE, but take cash for street vendors
A century in, the Feast of San Gennaro remains New York’s loudest, longest-running love letter to Little Italy, and this year marks its 100th anniversary. What began in 1926 as a one-day block party for Neapolitan immigrants honoring their patron saint has grown into 11 blocks of sausage and peppers, zeppole, live music, and carnival games.
The devotional heart of it all still beats strong: a Solemn High Mass at the Shrine Church of the Most Precious Blood on September 19, and the Grand Procession on September 26, when San Gennaro’s statue is carried through the streets accompanied by marching bands and generations of the neighborhood’s Italian American families.
Crossing The Line Festival
L’Alliance New York’s flagship festival of French and Francophone performance, now in its 18th year, bringing 14 global artists and seven North American premieres across visual art, music, dance, and theater.
L’Alliance New York, 22 East 60th Street
Plus partners across NYC and for the first time: upstate
September 18 – December 20, 2026
$Varies
Every fall, Crossing The Line turns L’Alliance New York into a launchpad for the boldest voices from the French-speaking world, and this edition pushes even further outward, expanding for the first time beyond the city to PS21 in Chatham, New York.
Curated by Artistic Director Violaine Huisman, the 2026 lineup draws on Francophone artists with roots in Greece, Guadeloupe, Rwanda, Nigeria, and Vietnam, spanning a season that runs from French artist Camille Henrot’s stage debut in September to Caroline Guiela Nguyen’s long-awaited North American premiere of Saigon closing out December at St. Ann’s Warehouse.
Fourteen artists, four New York premieres, and one relentless questioning of where any single artform ends and another begins.
DANCE
New York Salsa Congress
The world’s largest Salsa and Bachata celebration marks its 25th anniversary, with workshops, competitions, socials, and headline concerts featuring “El Caballero de la Salsa” Gilberto Santa Rosa.
New York Marriott Marquis
Times Square Theater District
Labor Day Weekend: Thu-Mon, September 3-7, 2026
$85+
For a quarter century, Labor Day Weekend in Times Square has belonged to Salsa, and this milestone anniversary edition raises the stakes. Seven ballrooms across the Marriott Marquis fill with world class instructors, marathon social dancing, and a stacked concert lineup anchored by Salsa legend Gilberto Santa Rosa, plus a new one-night-only production, La Finca de la Salsa, chronicling the people and places that built New York’s Salsa scene. Whether you come to train, compete, or dance until sunrise, this is the weekend the global salsa community treats New York as sacred ground.
Fall for Dance Festival
New York City Center’s 23rd annual survey of world-class dance, opening the venue’s season with 11 premieres and companies spanning ballet, contemporary, and flamenco from five continents.
New York City Center
Midtown Manhattan
Tue-Sat, September 22–October 3, 2026
$30
For 23 years, Fall for Dance has run on one radical idea: every seat costs the same low price, no matter who’s on stage. This year that gets you Martha Graham Dance Company, A.I.M by Kyle Abraham, PHILADANCO!, Boston Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, and Miami City Ballet sharing the lineup with international names from Spain, Israel, Germany, and Australia, plus 11 premiere works and two City Center commissions.
It’s the festival that turns City Center into New York’s most democratic dance ticket of the fall, built for the curious as much as the devoted.
FASHION
New York Fashion Week
One of the world’s Big Four Fashion Weeks
Wed-Mon, September 9-14, 2026
For the trade, with some ticketed shows
FDLA: Fashion Designers of Latin America
Official New York Fashion Week showcase of emerging Latin American designers, headlined by leading Spanish designers Agatha Ruiz de la Prada and Custo Barcelona. This season also features Lebanese-Dominican designer Giannina Azar, and Argentine Benito Fernández.
– Fri, September 11, 2026: Invitational press event with opening runway show by Colombia’s Agua by Agua Bendita
– Sat, September 12, 2026: Times Square viewing of FDLA Spotlight Magazine launch.
– Sun, September 13, 2026: Runway shows at Lavan in Midtown.
– Mon, September 14, 2026: Closing gala show and press reception at United Palace in Washington Heights.
– Tue, September 15, 2026: Buy the Runway showroom at The Canvas SoHo, Buyers 12-3pm, Public 3-6pm
Runway events $150+, VIP All-Access $500+
For 25 seasons, FDLA has carved out ground at New York Fashion Week for designers from across Latin America, turning Fashion Week into a showcase of the region’s range, from Bogotá’s rising talent to established houses reshaping what Latin design looks like on a global stage.
VIP access includes backstage entry, designer meet and greets, and front row seating at the shows, making this one of the rare NYFW stops built specifically around Latin American creative voices.
FILM
New York Latino Film Festival
September 15-20, 2026
More…
African Diaspora International Film Festival (ADIFF): Black in Latin America
Our favorite film festival because every movie teaches you something unique about the world’s greatest diaspora: African American, Brazilian, Chilean, Colombian, Cuban, Dominican, Haitian, Mexican, Peruvian, Spanish, and Venezuelan films
Online in the USA and territories
September 25-October 15, 2026
$10
New York Film Festival
Latin and global roots films
Film at Lincoln Center
BAM: Fort Greene, Brooklyn
Museum of the Moving Image: Astoria, Queens
September 25-October 12, 2026
$22+
#NYFF64
More…
FOOD
Latin Food Fest
70+ vendors of Cuban, Dominican, Mexican, Puerto Rican, Venezuelan cuisine and more with live music and DJs spinning bachata, merengue, bachata, reggaeton+
Location TBD
The Bronx
Sat-Sun, September 12-13, 2026 | 12-8pm
$12+. Bring cash for food vendors.
HOLIDAYS
Labor Day (US)
On Mon, September 7, 2026, this US national holiday celebrates the achievements of American workers. It is the popular end of summer. The tradition began in New York City in 1882.
9/11
On September 11, 2001, the World Trade Center was brought down, and for a day or two, all New Yorkers were one. 2026 is the 25th Anniversary.
MUSIC
New York Carnival: Blocko Mania Concert
Iwer George, Edwin Yearwood, Mical Teja, Rikki Jai, Jadel, Blaka Dan, Anika Berry, and more singing soca, calypso, and chutney music
Brooklyn Museum (in back)
Prospect Heights, Brooklyn
Thu, September 3, 2026 | 7pm-1am
$60+
More…
New York Carnival: SocaFest Concert
Bunji Garlin, Kes the Band, WCK (Windward Caribbean Kulture), Fay Ann Lyons and The Viking Band, plus special guest
Brooklyn Museum (in back)
Prospect Heights, Brooklyn
Fri, September 4, 2026 | 8pm-3am
$60+
More…
New York Carnival: Panorama SteelPan Contest
The ultimate showcase for Trinidad’s national instrument has been an important part of Trinidad Carnival since 1963.
Brooklyn Museum (in back)
Prospect Heights, Brooklyn
Sat, September 5, 2026 | 7pm-1am
$55+
More…
Chayanne: Bailemos otra vez Tour
Puerto Rican pop
Prudential Center
Newark, New Jersey
Sat, September 12, 2026 | 8pm
$95+
Latin Grammy Nominations
Year’s best Latin music according to the Latin Recording Academy
Wed, September 16, 2026
(Awards in November)
Juanes: North American Tour
Colombian alternative rock star
Prudential Center
Newark, New Jersey
Fri, September 18, 2026 | 8pm
$60+
Kany Garcia: Puerta abierta Tour
Puerto Rican pop
Prudential Center
Newark, New Jersey
Sat, September 26, 2026 | 8pm
$60+
NATIONAL DAYS
Brazilian Independence Day
On September 7, 1822, Dom Pedro I declared independence from Portugal and his father the Portuguese king with O Grito do Ipiranga (The Cry of Ipiranga). Remarkably, it was a peaceful transition.
Central American Independence Day
On September 15, 1821, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua signed the Act of Independence of Central America, ending Spanish rule. This marks the start of Hispanic Heritage Month in the US.
Mexican Independence Day
On September 16, 1810, “El Grito de Dolores” (Cry of Dolores) triggered the Mexican War of Independence from Spain.
Chilean Independence Day
On September 18, 1810, the First National Government Junta launched the independence process from Spain.
Belizean Independence Day
On September 21, 1981, Belize became the last country in Central America to become independent, breaking with the United Kingdom.
It’s worth noting that independence in Latin America is less than two generations old. It’s new.
Malian Republic Day
On September 22, 1960, Mali declared full sovereignty from France, after the end of the short-lived Malian Federation with Senegal.
America’s delta blues has deep roots in Malian traditions including: the pentatonic (five-note scale), the bending of notes which mimics West African vocal styles, the ngoni and akonting ancestors of the American banjo, and the griot tradition of traveling singer-songwriter storytellers.
Bissau-Guinean Independence Day
On September 24, 1973, Guinea-Bissau declared independence from Portugal.
Botswanan Independence Day
On September 30, 1966, Botswana declared independence from Britain.
PARADES
Central American Heritage Parade
37th Avenue (69th to 89th St)
Jackson Heights, Queens
Sun, September 6, 2026 | 12-3pm
FREE
J’ouvert
Carnival Daybreak Festival run by the NYPD
Empire Blvd and Nostrand Ave
Crown Heights, Brooklyn
(Labor Day) Mon, September 7, 2026 | 6am
If you are not from the neighborhood, wait for sunrise
FREE
West Indian Day Parade (Labor Day Parade Brooklyn)
New York Carnival comes to a climax with Barbadian, Belizean, Grenadian, Guadeloupean, Guyanese, Haitian, Jamaican, Martinican, Trinidadian, Vincentian marchers to a soundtrack of soca, reggae, and kompa
Eastern Parkway (Utica Ave to Grand Army Plaza)
Crown Heights, Brooklyn
(Labor Day) Mon, September 7, 2026 | 11am-6pm
FREE, but take cash to enjoy street vendors
More…
NYC Labor Day Parade March
Honors the nation’s workers. It’s downtown this year for 9/11’s 25th anniversary.
Tue, September 8, 2026
4:30pm: Assemble around Broadway
5pm: Rally on Liberty St at Church St
6pm: March north on Church St, east on Worth St, south on Lafayette to Foley Square
FREE
Bronx Central American Independence Day Parade
Celebrates the independence of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua with a parade and Garifuna cultural festival
10am: Happy Land Memorial Service
12pm: Parade down Southern Blvd from East Tremont Avenue
2-6pm: Cultural festival in Crotona Park, The Bronx (at Charlotte St)
Sun, September 13, 2026
FREE, but bring cash for food and artisanal crafts
More…
African American Day Parade
Theme: “Good Businesses Sustain Our Future”
Harlem, NYC
– Street Fair: Sat, September 19, 2026
– Parade: Sun, September 20, 2026 | 1-6pm
FREE with vendor booths
Mexican Day Parade
The 32nd annual celebration of Mexican Independence Day, marching Mexican heritage, mariachi, folkloric dance, and lowrider culture down Madison Avenue.
Madison Avenue from 38th to 27th St.
Sun, September 20, 2026 | 12:00pm
FREE
Founded in 1994, the Mexican Day Parade has grown from a single block in Astoria into one of Manhattan’s biggest cultural showcases, now spanning nearly a mile of Madison Avenue through Murray Hill, Kips Bay, NoMad, and Flatiron. Expect mariachi bands, folkloric dancers in traditional dress, elaborate floats, and classic lowriders rolling past crowds that turn out in the tens of thousands.
The parade honors Mexico’s 1810 independence from Spain while celebrating the more than one million New Yorkers of Mexican heritage who call the tristate area home.
Queens Hispanic Day Parade / Desfile Hispano de Queens
37th Avenue (69th to 89th St)
Jackson Heights, QueensSun, September 27, 2026 | Sun, October 4, 2026 | 12-3pm
FREE
Because of rain, we are joining next week’s Queens Dominican Parade.
RELIGIOUS HOLIDAYS
Yemayá
On September 7, Cuban and Puerto Rican Lucumí tradition celebrates the great mother Yemayá, Yoruba Orisha of the sea. In Nigeria, she is the goddess of the Ogun River which meets the sea at Lagos lagoon in the heart of Yorubaland. Yemayá is the great water in Yoruba tradition, so after the Middle Passage, she became the ocean. Somos hijos del mar, y Editor Kíko es un hijo de Yemayá.
Virgen de Regla
On September 7, Cuban Lucumí faithful make a pilgrimage to la Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de Regla in Regla, Havana, Cuba; to honor the Catholic Marian saint syncretized with Yemayá, the great mother in the Yoruba pantheon.
Nativity of Mary
On September 8, Catholic tradition celebrates the birth of Mary. The tradition derives from the dedication of the Basilica of Saint Anne (Mary’s mother) in Jerusalem.
Oshún
On September 8, Cuban and Puerto Rican Lucumí celebrate Oshún, the Orisha of fresh water, love, fertility, and wealth.
Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre: “La Cachita”
On September 8, Cubans celebrate their patron saint, Our Lady of Charity, an important symbol of Cuban national identity.
She is syncretized with Oshún. One of the ways you can tell is their mutual association with golden yellow. When Yoruba descendant women wear that color, it has a cultural meaning. Once that association is fixed in your mind, you connect with the goddess every time you see that color.
Rosh Hashanah
Jewish New Year 5787 starts the High Holy Days
Traditions include: shofar, apples, honey, pomegranates, and tashlikh
Fri-Sun, September 11-13, 2026
Yom Kippur
The Jewish Day of Atonement is a day of fasting, prayer, and forgiveness that ends the High Holy Days.
Sundown, Sun-Mon, September 20-21, 2026
Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes (Our Lady of Mercy)
On the eve of September 24, many Dominican families honor the patron saint of the Dominican Republic. There are major pilgrimages to la Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes in Santo Domingo, and the Santuario Nacional Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes in Santo Cerro, La Vega, Dominican Republic.
SPORTS
US Open Tennis Championship
Late summer influencer hotspot
USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center
Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Queens
August 30 – September 13, 2026
Women’s Singles Final: Sat, September 12
Men’s Singles Final: Sun, September 13
NYCFC: Noche Latina (Latino Night)
New York City FC vs Nashville SC
Major League Soccer
Yankee Stadium
Concourse, The Bronx
Fri, September 4, 2026 | 7:30pm
More…
NYCFC: Boston Rivalry
New York City FC vs New England Revolution
Major League Soccer
Citi Field
Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Queens
Wed, September 9, 2026 | 4:30pm
More…
Mets: Subway Series
Mets vs Yankees
Citi Field
Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Queens
Fri-Sun, September 11-13, 2026
More…
Mets: Mexican Heritage Night
Mets vs Baltimore Orioles
Citi Field
Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Queens
Wed, September 16, 2026 | 7:10pm
$22+
More…
NYCFC: Hudson River Derby
New York City FC vs New York Red Bulls
Major League Soccer
Yankee Stadium
Concourse, The Bronx
Fri, September 18, 2026 | 7:30pm
More…
Mets: Carlos Beltrán Hall of Fame Induction
Mets vs Philadelphia Phillies
Citi Field
Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Queens
Sat, September 19, 2026 | 4:10pm
$40+
More…
NYCFC: Pride Night
New York City FC vs Atlanta United
Major League Soccer
Yankee Stadium
Concourse, The Bronx
Sat, September 26, 2026 | 7:30pm
More…
THEATER
La Ventana de Los Chévere
Ivan Acosta’s tragicomedy about a Latin family’s fortunes after 9/11
Teatro LATEA at The Clemente
Lower East Side, Manhattan
September 3-30, 2026
$35
teatrolatea.org
NYC Broadway Week Summer
2-for-1 tickets to popular Broadway shows
Times Square Theater District
On Sale: Tue, August 18, 2026
Shows: September 8-20, 2026
More…
NYC Off-Broadway Week Fall
2-for-1 tickets to popular Off-Broadway shows
On Sale: Tue, September 22, 2026
Shows: October 5-18, 2026