This and That: Events, Parties, and Things To Do in NYC in January 2026 (with Free Events!)
Despite the rumors, January in NYC is far from quiet. From after-hours celebrations at the Whitney Museum of American Art to skating at Rockefeller Center to exploring The Winter Show at The Park Avenue Armory through to dancing at one of NYC’s most iconic debutante balls, these are the best events in NYC for January 2026.
Joshua Beamish and MOVETHECOMPANY Solos & Duets
What’s happening: Joshua Beamish and MOVETHECOMPANY bring an evening of solos and duets to New York, featuring leading artists from American Ballet Theatre, the Metropolitan Opera Ballet, and Crystal Pite’s Kidd Pivot. The program presents New York premieres alongside a world premiere, tracing Beamish’s choreographic range from narrative ballet to contemporary, music-driven intimacy, with costume design by Jason Wu.
Why go: This one-night program unites an exceptional group of performers including ABT soloists Fangqi Li, Patrick Frenette, Betsy McBride, Luciana Paris, and Tristan Brosnan, alongside Renée Sigouin of Kidd Pivot and Jonatan Lujan of the Metropolitan Opera Ballet. With multiple New York premieres and the world premiere of Sonata in G Minor, created for Luciana Paris and Jonatan Lujan, the evening offers a rare convergence of classical virtuosity and contemporary expression on one stage.
What’s involved: Dance performances.
Thursday, January 8, 2026 from 7:30 PM. until 9:00 PM at Ailey Citigroup Theater 405 West 55th Street, New York, NY 10019. Information and tickets here.
Ice Skating in NYC
What’s happening: New York City transforms into a winter wonderland each season, and no experience captures the holiday spirit quite like ice skating at iconic rinks. At The Rink at Rockefeller Center, skate under the famous sculptures and towering buildings in a setting straight out of a movie. For a riverside vibe, The Rink at Brookfield Place offers waterfront views and a sleek, modern aesthetic. Prefer something local? Check out Bryant Park’s Winter Village for free admission (with skate rental fees), or the expansive Wollman Rink in Central Park, which combines picturesque park scenery with skyline views (best experienced after a fresh snow).
Why go Each rink has a different energy, from the historic tone of Rockefeller Center (opened in 1936) to the sunny-soaked, chic Brookfield Place with its palm tree-lined Winter Garden. All rinks are perfect for families, couples on date nights, and the occasional pro skater eager to show off. The Rink at Rockefeller Center is open until 1:00AM, making it a unique late night activity.
What to wear: Layers for warmth, gloves for the chill, and don’t forget cozy socks for your skates. Bonus points for scarves and pom-pom hats.
When and where:
Rockefeller Center: Open daily through the season; timed tickets start at $22.00. Tickets here.
Brookfield Place: Open daily through the season; $14.00 admission plus skate rentals. Tickets here.
Bryant Park: Free admission through the season; ticket with skate rentals from $25.00. Tickets here.
Wollman Rink: Open through the season; tickets from $11.00. Tickets here.
Jeanne Jaffe: Becoming Hybrid and Emilio Martinez: Freedom from Fear at
L’SPACE Gallery
What’s happening: L’SPACE Gallery presents a dual solo exhibition featuring Miami based artists Jeanne Jaffe and Emilio Martinez, whose practices approach identity as something fluid, unstable, and continuously in formation. Presented side by side, the exhibitions move between sculpture, painting, textiles, and animation, creating parallel investigations into transformation, hybridity, and the psychological terrain of self-definition.
Why go: Together, the exhibitions offer a rare dialogue between two artists working across distinct mediums yet circling similar questions of becoming. Jaffe’s Becoming Hybrid introduces ceramic, bronze, woven cotton, and animated figures that resist fixed categories, evoking pre-verbal states and references to pre-Columbian and totemic forms. A highlight of the run is an artist talk with Jeanne Jaffe, offering deeper insight into her multidisciplinary practice and long-standing engagement with hybridity and transformation.
What’s involved: Exhibition viewing, artist talk.
Now until Saturday, January 31, 2026 from 11:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. at L’SPACE Gallery, 524 W 19th St, New York, NY 10011. Information and details here.
Opening Reception: Thursday, November 13, 2026 from 6:00 PM until 8:00 PM
Artist Talk with Jeanne Jaffe: Wednesday, January 14, 2026 from 5:00 PM until 7:00 PM
Best of ADIFF 2026
What’s happening: The African Diaspora International Film Festival presents Best of ADIFF, a three day encore program featuring audience favorites and award winning films from its thirty third New York edition. The series highlights politically engaged, formally inventive cinema from across the African diaspora, with a special focus on works that generated strong audience response during the fall festival.
Why go: This weekend offers a second chance to experience the films that defined ADIFF NY 2025, which took place just last month. Leading the program is Sugar Island by Johanne Gómez Terrero, winner of the Public Award for Best Film Directed by a Woman of Color, a poetic Afrofuturist meditation on labor, identity, and colonial memory. The lineup also includes revolutionary histories, cultural legacies, and contemporary narratives that reflect ADIFF’s commitment to cinema that is both artistically daring and socially grounded.
What’s involved: Film screenings.
Friday, January 16, 2026 until Sunday, January 18, 2026 at Teachers College, Columbia University New York City, 525 W 120th St, New York, NY 10027. Schedule and tickets here.
The First Annual YADA Antiques Show
What’s happening: The Young Antique Dealers Association launches its inaugural antiques fair, introducing New York City’s first show dedicated exclusively to emerging dealers of fine art and objects. Hosted inside the historic George F. Baker Mansion, the limited run fair brings together eight rising dealers whose practices span furniture, decorative arts, jewelry, and collectible objects. Proceeds from the show support the preservation of the mansion, situating the next generation of connoisseurship within a landmark setting.
Why go: This is an opportunity to engage directly with the future of the antiques world at an early and formative moment. Beyond the fair itself, an opening party sets the tone, offering collectors and curious newcomers a chance to gather inside the mansion for an evening that blends social energy with discovery. The participating dealers, including Christopher Cawley and Maxim Dimitry, represent a new wave shaping how historic objects are sourced, studied, and presented to younger audiences, making the show feel intimate, forward-looking, and consequential.
What’s involved: Antiques fair viewing, opening party, dealer presentations.
Thursday, January 22, 2026 until Sunday, January 25, 2026 from 12:00 PM until 6:00 PM at George F. Baker Mansion, 75 E 93rd St. New York, NY 10128. Information and tickets here.
The Winter Show 2026
What’s happening: Now in its seventy-second year, The Winter Show returns as the longest-running art, antiques, and design fair in the United States. Founded in 1954, the fair presents museum-quality works spanning fine art, jewelry, furniture, silver, rare books, and decorative arts, all rigorously vetted by specialists across disciplines. Held as an annual benefit for East Side House Settlement, the Show unites connoisseurship with philanthropy, positioning collecting as both cultural practice and civic contribution.
Why go: The Winter Show is a cornerstone of New York’s cultural calendar, drawing collectors, designers, and curators who value scholarship, taste, and continuity. The 2026 edition honors Caroline Kennedy for her lifelong leadership in education, diplomacy, and the arts. Highlights include Young Collectors Night honoring Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia, whose work bridges fashion, art, and modern craftsmanship, as well as the Jewelry Luncheon celebrating Ulla Johnson for her artisanal, globally informed approach to design.
What’s involved: Art fair viewing, special events, collector programs.
Thursday, January 22, 2026 until Sunday, February 1, 2026 at the Park Avenue Armory, Park Avenue at 67th Street, New York, NY 10065. Information and tickets here.
Public Hours: Friday, January 23, 2026 through Sunday, February 1, 2026. Opens daily at 12:00 p.m. Closing times vary.
Jewelry Brunch: Sunday, January 25, 2026 from 12:00 PM until 2:00 PM
Young Collectors Night: Thursday, January 29, 2026 from 6:00 PM until 9:00 PM
Connoisseurs Night: Friday, January 30, 2026 from 5:30 PM until 8:00 PM
Whitney Museum Art Party 2026
What’s happening: The Whitney Museum of American Art opens the year with its annual Art Party, an after-hours takeover that turns the museum into a living celebration of contemporary culture. Galleries remain open late as guests move between exhibitions, cocktails, and dance floors, with DJ sets by The Dare and Raúl de Nieves setting the tempo for the night. Fashion, sound, and art converge in an atmosphere designed to reward bold expression and collective release, with support from Aesop, Libertine, Faena New York, and Dobel Tequila.
Why go: The Whitney Art Party has become a barometer for the city’s creative temperature, drawing artists and cultural figures whose presence signals where downtown energy is headed next. Hosted by the Whitney Contemporaries, past editions have welcomed artists such as Salman Toor alongside public figures including Ashley Graham, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Karlie Kloss, and Seth Meyers. This year’s host committee includes artist and performer Martine Gutierrez, reinforcing the party’s deep connection to the art world itself. As a New Year ritual, the night offers a chance to gather inside the museum not as a spectator, but as a participant, beginning the year surrounded by those shaping culture across disciplines.
What’s involved: After-hours museum access, cocktails, dancing, DJ sets.
Dress code: “Loudest prints and most vibrant patterns”.
Tuesday, January 27, 2026 from 8:30 PM until 12:00 AM at Whitney Museum of American Art 99 Gansevoort Street, New York, NY 10014. Information and tickets here.
Master Drawings New York 2026
What’s happening: Master Drawings New York returns for its twentieth edition, marking a major milestone for the premier US fair dedicated to works on paper. Over the course of the week, an international roster of galleries presents museum quality drawings spanning the fifteenth through twenty first centuries, alongside select paintings, sculpture, and photography. The fair unfolds across more than two dozen Upper East Side galleries, encouraging visitors to experience the neighborhood as a walkable constellation of scholarship, connoisseurship, and discovery.
Why go: This anniversary edition is the largest in the fair’s history, with thirty six exhibitors and an expanded slate of programs developed in partnership with The Drawing Foundation. Beyond gallery exhibitions, MDNY offers access to behind the scenes study rooms, curator led tours, and lectures at leading institutions. Highlights include deep dives into Netherlandish draftsmanship, the Princeton Drawings Collection, Winslow Homer at Cooper Hewitt, and material experimentation at venues such as the Morgan Library and the Hispanic Society. For collectors, scholars, and design minded viewers alike, MDNY offers an unmatched concentration of expertise and access in one week.
What’s involved: Gallery exhibitions, talks, tours, study sessions.
Friday, January 30, 2026 until Saturday, February 7, 2026 at participating galleries across the Upper East Side, New York City. Information and event registration here.
The 62nd Annual Piarist Ball
What’s happening: The Piarist Ball returns for its sixty-second annual edition, continuing a long-standing New York tradition rooted in Hungarian cultural heritage, education, and formal pageantry. The evening unfolds as a classic European ball, moving from a live-jazz cocktail reception into a formal dinner and an elaborately choreographed program featuring debutantes, ceremonial dances, and orchestral music. At its core, the Ball supports the educational mission of the Piarist Order, whose centuries-long commitment to accessible education has shaped generations of Hungarian intellectual life.
Why go: Few events in New York preserve Old World formality with this level of rigor and warmth. From the opening Csárdás to the debutantes’ waltz and the Grand Palotás of the Hungarian nobility, the Ball offers a immersion into living tradition. Music by the Laura Angyal Jazz Quartet and the Lester Lanin Society Orchestra carries the night from elegance into full celebration, while the setting and ceremony lend the evening a sense of continuity that bridges history, diaspora, and civic pride. It is as much a cultural inheritance as it is a social occasion.
What’s involved: Cocktail reception, formal dinner, live music, ceremonial dances, ballroom dancing.
Dress code: Strictly White Tie and Tails. No standard tuxedos.
Saturday, January 31, 2026 from 6:00 PM until 1:00 AM at University Club of New York New York City. Information and tickets here.
New York City offers countless winter pop-ups, but few rooftop experiences truly stand out. From suspended igloos to luxe chalets and a playful alpine lodge, these are our favorite escapes for cold-weather cocktails, vibes, and skyline views.