Riverside Park Conservancy
Free Upper West Side News, Delivered To Your Inbox
Live music, outdoor movies, comedy nights, fitness classes, and family workshops will return to Riverside Park from May through October, with more than 400 free events scheduled across Manhattan’s west side.
Advertisement
The lineup is part of Summer on the Hudson, the free outdoor arts and culture festival presented by Riverside Park Conservancy and NYC Parks. Now in its 24th year, the festival announced its 2026 programming this week, with events running between West 59th and 181st Streets. A full calendar is available at riversideparknyc.org/soh.Several new offerings join the schedule this season. Story Hour, a weekly program for kids and their caregivers, debuts Saturdays at 3 p.m. at the 102nd Street Field House, with rotating books and guest readers. New Horticulture Tours led by Conservancy staff will give parkgoers a closer look at the landscape.
Speak Up! Festival, co-presented with Opera on Tap, Shakespearean Cabaret, and a network of LGBTQIA+ artists and organizations, joins the festival on June 27 at Pier I, mixing opera, jazz, Broadway, dance, yoga, and karaoke after dusk.
A new partnership with Uptown Film Center will bring an outdoor screening of In the Heights to a spot near the Red Clay Tennis Courts on September 18. The screening is part of the company’s 2026 summer pop-up series ahead of the planned opening of its five-screen cinema center.
Riverside Comedy Club, which debuted last summer, returns to Pier I for three Friday nights spread across June, July, and August, with stand-up sets curated and hosted by Nat Towsen. Nature Explorers, the hands-on workshop series focused on the Hudson River ecosystem, returns with sessions organized around seasonal themes including birds, insects, plants, and wildlife.
Advertisement
Longtime favorites are also back. Silent Disco, Let’s Dance, Amplified Sundays, and the Pier I Picture Show return alongside wellness staples like Sunset Yoga, Pilates in the Park, Tai Chi, and Bodyweight Blast.The festival’s expansion into upper Manhattan continues this year, with additional programming planned at West Harlem Piers Park, Riverside North, and Fort Washington Park, including the return of Movies on the Waterfront on the 145th Street Lawn each Thursday in August.
Updates on weather cancellations and pop-up additions will be posted on Riverside Park Conservancy’s social media channels throughout the season.
Have a news tip? Send it to us here!
