Best festivals in New York

Smiling faces, vibrant colours and happiness all over best describe the euphoria that surrounds the streets of New York during the festivals.

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Film Festival was one of the few good things that can be said to have come out of the September 11 attacks. This may be a statement that's hard to swallow, but Robert De Nero and co. put it together because their part of town – the TriBeCa neighbourhood of Manhattan, was becoming a bit of a wasteland as people stayed away from the centre of town. In its first year in 2002 it was supposed to highlight New York as a centre of film making excellence, and while the themes have swelled and stretched a bit to include a more varied selection of works, it's still basically a festival for New York about New York, by mostly New Yorkers. That's not a bad thing though. What really works about it is that it's really great for independent films and the people who want to make them. In 2008 'Let the Right One In' won the Best Narrative Feature.

New York's Easter Parade
New York's Easter Parade is more about new fashion than Jesus rising from the dead, however there's sacred and biblical tradition even in the love of fashion, as in many European cultures Easter became the time for year for new clothes as this old adage shows: "For Christmas, food and drink; for Easter, new clothes,". Like wearing your Sunday best to church it became important to dress not only in your best at Easter but for your dress to be new.

In New York in the 1880s the tradition found favour as people started to dress to impress for Easter services in the city's main cathedrals and churches. Part of the Easter practice at this time was to stroll between churches admiring both the way the churches were decked out and their congregation while being admired at the same time. These days the practice has become more of a satire of itself, with the once stylish hats adorned with bird feathers being replaced by statement hats adorned with live birds in birdcages - but it's still a fun, Fifth Avenue spectacle.


New York Hallowe'en Parade October 31st is fancy dress utopia for some two million people every year in New York’s Greenwich Village. Despite the event’s vast scale, its organisers express pride at the community feel of the parade. It’s suitable for children to attend and they (as well as the adults) are encouraged to indulge their creative impulses and invent the most ingenious and eye-catching themed costumes possible. The result is a carnival-like explosion of wonderfully weird sound and colour which progresses down Sixth Avenue and culminates in a massive party. There are official floats and some mind-boggling costume efforts are put together by teams that contribute every year, but as long as you’re dressed as something creepy and/or peculiar, you’re invited too: just meet the crowd between Spring and Broome Streets in the early evening and join the ghost train


Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
Each American family has their own Thanksgiving Day traditions leading up to the gut busting dinner. Some spend the day driving to relatives’ houses, others have a family football game or run in a Turkey Trot, but one of the most popular ways to begin the day is watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. For the past 80 years the Macy’s has kicked off the holiday season, in New York City, with this national favorite that draws 3.5 million spectators and a television audience of 50 million.

The colorful parade features massive balloons of America’s favorite characters like Snoopy, floats carrying celebrities, college and high school marching bands from all over the country and even performances by Broadway stars and the iconic Radio City Rockettes. If you’re watching the parade at home turn your television to NBC at 9 o’clock. For those braving the cold for the experience of seeing this spectacular show in person, get there early. The crowds start lining the route as early as 6:30. The time will pass by quickly if you pick up some breakfast and join the informal street party that takes place before the parade.