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Surely 2026 has to be better than—waves around desperately—whatever the hell 2025 was, right? Right?! Despite the universe’s evidence to the contrary, we’re bringing a very hopeful energy into the new year and thankfully New York City is following suit, with a full slate of high-profile museum exhibitions, big-name Broadway shows, a pop superstar’s long-awaited concert tour and a major nationwide birthday. (Happy 250th, America!)
We’ve combed through everything announced for 2026 so far—from a rare MoMA retrospective to a Mr. Rodgers–inspired takeover of the Bronx Zoo and loads in between—and narrowed things down to these eight standouts that we’re most looking forward to.
Tribeca’s art scene will be getting a massive, tech-forward boost
Onassis ONX—the Onassis Foundation’s lab serving artists working in XR, AI and immersive performance—is packing up its midtown digs and heading down to Tribeca, where it will double in size with an experimental, 6,000-square-foot studio at Broadway and Walker Street. We’re talking a motion-capture stage double the size of the old one, a three-wall seamless projection room intended for museum-grade installations and an expanded sound studio. The first show will be “TECHNE: Homecoming,” set to run January 9 to 18, 2026; it will bring together six artists (including Björk collaborator Andrew Thomas Huang and VR pioneer Tamiko Thiel) to explore identity and kinship via video environments and interactive “phygital” installations.
The country’s most prestigious antiques show will be upgrading your thrift game
The annual Winter Show will be making its hotly anticipated return to Manhattan’s Park Avenue Armory for its 72nd edition from January 23 through February 1, 2026. Spanning 5,000 years of art and design with 70 internationally renowned dealers, you can trick out your pad with Old Master paintings, fine Chinese porcelain, 19th-century Italian glassworks, medieval miniatures and whatever other oddball objets d’arts your heart desires.
Hundreds of adorable pups will be cute-ing up the Javits Center
Calling all dog lovers! (That’s everyone, yes?) The American Kennel Club will be bringing its pets-loving, family-friendly AKC Meet the Breeds extravaganza to the Jacob Javits Center on February 7 and 8, 2026. Furry friends from all over—Australian cattle dogs to Norwegian buhund, Portuguese water dogs to Tibetan spaniels—will be in attendance for guests to meet and play with, all while the humans learn about responsible pet ownership and which breeds may be right for them.
Broadway will be looking more joyfully campy than ever
We’re talking Jellicle balls, fallen angels, Celine Dion impersonations and much more. New York’s 2026 Broadway calendar is already jam-packed with theatrical delights: In the spring, you’ll see the Broadway arrival of the ball-culture blast that is Cats: The Jellicle Ball (previews begin March 18, show opens April 7) following it buzzy off-Broadway run; a fresh take on that time-warp classic The Rocky Horror Show inside the iconic Studio 54 (previews begin March 26, show opens April 23); a musical adaptation of that Bette Midler favorite Beaches starring Keli Barrett and Jessica Vosk (previews begin March 26, show opens April 22); and Noël Coward’s champagne-fueled comedy Fallen Angels pairing Rose Byrne and Kelli O’Hara (previews begin March 27, show opens April 19). The year will also see more Titanique, a Dreamgirls revival and a jukebox musical spotlighting the one and only Dolly Parton.
Marcel Duchamp will be having a major moment at MoMA
For the first time in five decades, a retrospective spotlighting the radical modern works and revolutionary readymades of Marcel Duchamp is coming to North America and, more specifically, New York’s Museum of Modern Art. On view from April 12 to August 22 in partnership with the Philadelphia Museum of Art (it will head to Philly from NYC and then off to the artist’s native France after that), “Marcel Duchamp” will feature nearly 300 pieces spanning six decades and all mediums, from his Cubist masterpiece Nude Descending a Staircase (No. 2) to his “portable museum,” The Box in a Valise.
America’s 250th birthday will be getting lit (and literary) in NYC
As one of the greatest cities in the U.S., it’s no surprise that New York will be a hotbed of birthday activity for America's big semiquincentennial. (Try saying that five times fast.) Already in the works is stuff for the history heads (like “Occupied City: New York and the American Revolution,” a new exhibition on view at the Museum of the City of New York through May 1, 2026), the boating buffs (get ready for Sail4th 250, a tall ship flotilla and waterfront festival coming to the Port of New York and New Jersey from July 3 to 8, 2026) and the library lovers (the NYPL will have iconic founding documents, artifacts, artworks on more on display as part of its “Revolution: 1776 and Beyond” exhibition, from June 13 onwards). And there will surely be even more parades, parties, panels and patriotic hullabaloos where all that came from.
Ariana Grande will be returning to NYC for her (maybe) last tour ever
Oscar-nominated Wicked star and veritable pop icon Ariana Grande has called her upcoming 2026 Eternal Sunshine Tour her last on-stage hurrah for “a long time.” And given that it’s already been six long years since New Yorkers saw last saw her perform live during 2019’s Sweetener World Tour, saying that we’re already planning to call out of work for this one is an understatement. Helpfully, Ari has booked five big dates at Brooklyn’s Barclay's Center in July 2026 (July 12, 13, 16, 18 and 19), and tickets are already on sale.
Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood will be coming to life at the Bronx Zoo
And finally, something for the fam: The beloved PBS KIDS series Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood is coming to life in zoos across the country next year, starting at the Bronx Zoo in summer 2026. The immersive traveling exhibit, “Daniel Tiger’s Grr-ific Day with You,” will be a bilingual English-Spanish experience, with activities inspired by the show—Daniel Tiger’s signature strategies to introduce life lessons are paired with wildlife exploration. Participants can learn about animals through interactive play and enjoy photo opportunities with Daniel and his friends.