When you visit New York, make sure to stop by a few of the NYC street fairs and festivals that take place throughout the summer. Almost every weekend in the summer there is an NYC festival for you to enjoy and learn more about what it is like to live in New York.

Spring into action

As spring turns into summer, the number of New York festivals taking place beings to increase. If you are visiting in June, every weekend has activities in different parts of the city to celebrate spring. Take a tour of all the NYC street fairs by hopping in your convertible rental, large SUV rental, or minivan rental to sample greasy food, shop for great bargains, and take part in some great New York festival entertainment.

Go to the center

Central Park has many of the great NYC festivals to attend! Throughout the summer there is Shakespeare in the Park, where you can see Romeo and Juliet or A Midsummer Night's Dream under the stars in Central Park. These are free performances by the Delacorte Theater. If you are lucky, you might even catch a star-studded cast. In the past performers have included Meryl Streep, Natalie Portman, and Philip Seymour Hoffman. You will want to get tickets early for these events, as they can be hard to come by.

SummerStage also takes place in the summer, with a full schedule of events and performances. There is live music, dance, spoken word readings, comedy, films, and more. It begins in June and runs through August. More than thirty of the events for this festival are free, but some are benefits to subsidize the SummerStage programs.

Say what?

For free concerts, you can check out some of the biggest acts in music at free summer concerts sponsored by the Today Show. Some of the artists include Fergie, Fall Out Boy, Rihanna, John Mayer, and many more. The only downside is that you have to get up really early because the show starts at 7 a.m., but you will want to arrive before 6. Good Morning America also sponsors free concerts during the summer in a battle of the morning shows.

New York has many NYC street fairs and festivals that take place throughout the summer, which you can enjoy. Some you may plan to go to, while others you may stumble upon while you are driving around New York in your cheap SUV rental or car rental. Almost every weekend/weekday in the summer has a festival for you to enjoy in the city. Not only are these events pretty cheap (or even free), they will expose you to some of the neighborhoods in the city that you may want to revisit during your trip.