Last Updated on May 27, 2025
The West Side Cultural Network—a group of museums, parks, performing arts centers, and cultural institutions located within a half-mile portion of historic New York—is delighted to announce the return of West Side Fest. The third annual West Side Fest will offer three days of festivities, including free admission, crafts for kids and families, artmaking activities for all ages, performances, special indoor and outdoor programming, and much more. New Yorkers and visitors of all ages are invited to celebrate the vibrant, cultural village along the waterfront of Manhattan’s west side!
West Side Fest highlights the city’s newest cultural destination on the western edge of Manhattan, a historic area with a welcoming and unique mix of fresh activities, open gathering spaces, and more. The neighborhood includes organizations and community gathering spaces that have been on the West Side for decades as well as newer arrivals like Hudson River Park’s Gansevoort Peninsula. West Side Fest is conveniently accessible by subway, bus, the High Line, bike, or car. While many organizations are offering free admission to programs and events, advance registration may be required. To confirm the details for each organization, please visit westsidefest.nyc.
Some of the West Side Fest highlights include:
- Center for Art, Research and Alliances (CARA) will offer special tours of Stephanie Comilang’s first solo institutional exhibition in the United States, Stephanie Comilang: An Apparition, A Song, alongside servings of the Filipino dessert halo-halo (“mix-mix”).
- Dia Chelsea will present Kishio Suga: Being and Murder, a selection of film and video works by artist Kishio Suga, including his feature-length, murder-mystery film Being and Murder (1999). Other activities include a curator-led tour of the exhibition Steve McQueen and activities for children.
- Offerings at the High Line include an artist-led workshop for families which will focus on creating artworks inspired by the plants, soil, fungi, and insects in the High Line gardens. On Sunday, High Line wellness instructors will all come together for a special day to offer samplings of Tai Chi, Afro-Brazilian Dance, and Fit and Lit.
- The Kitchen will present School for Temporary Liveness (STL) Vol. 4, a unique series of performances, sonic convenings, workshops, and conversations with over fifteen artists, alongside a multi-day reading room, participatory window installation, and screening program.
- Hill Art Foundation will have special extended hours and an all-ages game night on Friday, July 11. Activities will include a backgammon tournament on artist Sam Moyer’s handcrafted boards, a children’s scavenger hunt, and special tours led by Hill Art Foundation Educators.
- Hudson Guild will host The 27th Annual Community Art Jam at Hudson Guild Gallery, and New York City Scenes/Paintings by MKS Adams, Barbara Berger, Debbie Berger, Kimberly Hall will be on view at Guild Gallery II.
- Hudson River Park will offer music by Sonido Costeño, walking tours that engage with the local ecology of the Hudson River, and a painting workshop at Manhattan’s only beach, Gansevoort Peninsula.
- The Joyce Theater will stage performances of Pilobolus’s Other Worlds Collection, traversing the landscape of the human experience with heart-stopping grace, acrobatic power, and breathtaking artistry.
- New York City AIDS Memorial and LGBT Community Center will partner with the Kinfolk Tech Foundation to imagine expansive futures through collaging and zine-making in a Community Imagination Workshop using the LGBT Center’s National History Archive. This workshop is presented as part of Portals of Remembrance (May 17, 2025—April 2026), a new exhibition at the New York City AIDS Memorial featuring three monuments created by four renowned contemporary artists.
- In addition to numerous free performances, workshops, and art activations, Poster House will highlight its four exhibitions with curatorial tours of Fallout: Atoms for War & Peace and From the Bronx to the Battery: The Subway Sun, a Spanish-language tour of Puerto Rico in Print: The Posters of Lorenzo Homar, and an artist-led tour of Copy/Paste/Print/Repeat: Mike King & the Art of the Gig Poster. Sunday will also be dedicated to free family-friendly programming for all ages!
- Print Center New York will host a zine-making workshop with artist Francisco Donoso. During this futurist-archive-in-the-making activation, participants will contribute to collective imagining and respond to guiding questions with a quick zine, using pre-folded paper and provided materials. Finished zines will be donated, photocopied and added to a zine wall, or scanned as part of a collective digital archive.
- Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art will organize a family art activity on Sunday, July 13 from 1–4 pm at CUE Art Foundation. Inspired by mandalas in the Rubin’s collection, participants will create their own mandalas while reflecting on the spectrum of human emotions.
- The Shed will host a variety of public programs spanning installation, performance, music, and readings. They include Portals, an exhibition of passage, transformation, and resistance featuring new work by twelve early-career, NYC-based artists and collectives; an immersive, audiovisual performance by Marwa Eltahir; Chelsea Odufu’s Transmissions from the Archive: Unearthing Gold’s Frequency; a live performance by Jarrett Key; a mixed-media sculpture installation by Yelaine Rodriguez and Luis Vasquez La Roche; and music and dance on the Plaza with the DJ collective Soul Summit.
- Westbeth Artists Housing brings the vibrant spirit of its creative community to West Side Fest with a dynamic weekend of programming for all ages. Highlights include hands-on kids’ activities, enriching senior programs, compelling art exhibitions, open studio tours, live performances and music, and a lively Art, Craft & Vintage Market!
- White Columns will celebrate the opening reception of its summer exhibition, in which director and chief curator Matthew Higgs will consider aspects of his tenure over the past 20 years. The opening will feature a musical performance by Private Time to celebrate their new EP Walkable, the latest release from White Columns’ vinyl-only record label The Sound of White Columns (TSoWC).
- The Whitney Museum of American Art will host Open Studio for Teens from 1–3 pm on Friday, July 11. Later in the evening, Public Records will fill the Museum with music during Free Friday Night. The Whitney is also offering free admission from 5–10 pm on Friday, July 11, and from 10:30 am–6 pm during Free Second Sunday on July 13. Visitors of all ages will enjoy artmaking, tours, classes, and other special activities that celebrate Whitney exhibitions and community events. Free Second Sunday also includes free storytimes with The New York Public Library. In collaboration with the Whitney, the Meatpacking District Management Association (Meatpacking BID) will return with “Step Into Hopper,” a program that will bring immersive 3-D recreations of Edward Hopper paintings to the Meatpacking District during West Side Fest. Free and open to the public, “Step Into Hopper” is designed by Theresa Rivera Design and will also feature live interactive elements.
“Culture brings us together and creates community like nothing else can, and West Side Fest’s extraordinary weekend full of free performances, tours, workshops, readings, tours, exhibitions, and more are a perfect example of how our cultural community can engage, excite, and inspire New Yorkers and visitors from all over,” Cultural Affairs Commissioner Laurie Cumbo said. “I have been a regular at West Side Fest since its inception, and I can’t wait to experience this year’s incredible mix of fun, FREE activities and programs. I thank the organizers for their commitment to this remarkable event, which has fast become a New York City tradition, and encourage everyone to check out this year’s festival!”
The West Side boasts a wide range of unique offerings to explore in the neighborhood, including restaurants, shopping, and free programming across the West Side for visitors to enjoy throughout the day.
“Manhattan is the cultural capital of the world, and the West Side is one of its most vibrant stages,” said Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine. “From museums and parks to performance spaces and art installations, West Side Fest brings together the institutions that fuel our economy, strengthen our communities, and tell the story of who we are as New Yorkers. I encourage everyone to take advantage of this incredible weekend of free programming and explore all that the West Side has to offer.”
The West Side Cultural Network includes the Center for Art, Research and Alliances; CUE Art Foundation; Dia Chelsea; Hill Art Foundation; the High Line; Hudson River Park; The Joyce Theater; The Kitchen; The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center; Little Island; NYC AIDS Memorial; Poster House; Print Center New York; Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art; The Shed; Westbeth Artists Housing; White Columns; Whitney Museum of American Art.
“It’s an honor to have so many dynamic cultural centers, anchored by the Whitney, a world-class art destination, in the district I represent. I congratulate all the participating West Side Fest organizations and applaud their commitment to ensuring that the arts are accessible to all New Yorkers and visitors,” said Assemblymember Deborah J. Glick. “The arts enrich our lives immeasurably, and we are fortunate that our city has an abundance of superb cultural organizations. West Side Fest is quickly becoming central to the fabric of downtown Manhattan, and a wonderful celebration of our vibrant waterfront offerings.”
