Podcast: New York Festivals

In this podcast, we give an overview of the best summer festivals in New York City.

MP3 File

Hello, thanks for tuning into the Hotelbook podcast.

This episode we’ll be talking about the city that never sleeps, New York City.  Of course, there’s always something to do in New York, regardless of the day or season.  But in the spring and summer, Manhattan is at its best, with warm weather and dozens of notable cultural events, from street fairs to film festivals.

We’ve selected a few events that make good excuses to visit Manhattan this summer.  If you’ve already been to New York a few times, these festivals have a way of casting neighborhoods in a very different light, making your next trip a unique experience.

New York’s Central Park comes alive for a few weeks each summer, featuring two theatrical productions from the renowned Joseph Papp Public Theater.  One of these productions is always a Shakespeare selection, lending the event its “Shakespeare in the Park” billing.  And it’s no small bill, with notable actors jumping at the opportunity each year.  Previous years have seen the likes of Philip Seymore Hoffman, Natalie Portman and John Goodman taking to the Central Park stage at Delacorte Theater.

The Delacorte is a very intimate venue, a charming outdoor theatre-in-the-round.  And it boasts a picturesque setting, with Turtle Pond and Belvedere Castle serving as the stage backdrop.  This year’s productions are “Hamlet,” running from May 27 through June 29 and “Hair” from July 22 to August 17.  A large bundle of free tickets are reserved for release at the theater on the day of the show.  However, the theatre’s annual supporters get first dibs.  Central Park is huge, more than two miles long, so be sure and use the entrance at 81st street for quick access.

At the foot of Central Park is Manhattan’s Midtown, the bustling home to Times Square and the Empire State building, and an incredible selection of hotels.  We’re particularly fond of 6 Columbus, a stylish luxury boutique with a 60’s modernist flare packaged within a dignified mid-rise.  Thoughtful touches in the guestrooms include flat-panel televisions and iPod docking stations.  The hotel’s Blue Ribbon Sushi Bar & Grill is a new local favorite, and an exclusive rooftop bar opens this summer.

The hotel borders Central Park’s southwestern most corner on prestigious Columbus Circle, sharing the location with a towering likeness of Columbus himself, and the shiny-new shops and restaurants at Time Warner Center.  It’s the heart of New York.  Literally.  All distances to and from New York are measured from Columbus Circle.

Our next featured Manhattan festival, the Feast of San Gennaro, has its roots in the Catholic Church, though it has become something of a celebration of Italian Culture in general, and more specifically, it’s food.   The festivities begin on the second Sunday in September, with a grand parade following mass at the Church of the Most Precious Blood in lower Manhattan’s historic Little Italy.  For the next 11 days, Mulberry Street teems with booths from Little Italy’s finest Italian restaurants.  The entire experience is refreshingly authentic.  It’s worth seeing and tasting for yourself.

To coincide with the Feast of Gennaro, we found a new luxury hotel opening its doors for the first time this September, and it’s less than 6 blocks from Little Italy.  The Thompson Lower East Side is a sleek new tower rising from in Manhattan’s latest creative enclave, the Lower East Side.  Featuring interior designs by Muphy & Dine, a trendy bar, and a private pool (which is a rarity in Manhattan) the Thompson intends to impresses, and could be a beacon of things to come for this area.  If you’re looking for creature comforts and style near the authenticity of Little Italy, the Thompson Lower East Side is a promising bet.

We dive deeper still into Lower Manhattan as we move on to the next festival, the River to River Music Festival.  Created in 2002 to breathe a creative renewal into downtown following 9/11, this summer concert series has been a remarkable success, featuring more than 500 musical acts in 2007.  The festival spans June through September, and involves dozens of Lower Manhattan venues, in parks and music halls from Chambers Street down to Battery Park. Watch rivertorivernyc.com for this year’s schedule.

For accommodations to this festival, we recommend the Gild Hall Hotel in the financial district.  With a recent restyling, Gild Hall is among a handful of luxury boutiques ditching downtown’s traditional buttoned-downed business sense in favor of a more contemporary style.  Even so, Gild Hall cleverly pays amage to Wall Street, dovetailing plenty of rich walnut into the sleek stylings of a bi-level library lounge and champaigne bar.  In November Gild Hall penned a deal with famed restaurateur Todd English, who will open a modern English tavern in the hotel later this summer.

Lastly on the festival agenda, NBC’s Today Show hosts a series of exciting outdoor concerts outside their studio at Rockeller Plaza.  These televised concerts feature musical artists such as Coldplay, Sheryl Crow, and Kenny Chesney.  It’s a rare chance to see these popular acts for free, and in an incredible venue.  If you make a clever sign, you might even find yourself on national television.  It’s a Today Show tradition, with thousands of fans flocking to their Rockefeller Center studio each year.  After a morning concert, grab lunch and catch an afternoon taping of Late Night with Conan O’Brien.

We have a couple fantastic hotels offering hotelbook GreatRates deep in midtown, blocks from Rockefeller Center.  The Warwick New York is certainly a timeless option, with historic pedigree to spare at a pleasantly surprising value.  Stepping through the Warwick’s iconic gilded-bronze entryway makes a fine way to start your New York experience.  Also near Rockefeller, the St Regis Hotel is a landmark in its own right, boasting indulgent luxury accommodations in an ornate Beaux Arts building on Fifth Avenue.  With high-service and dignified style, it’s undoubtedly one of New York City’s top hotels.  It’s worth every penny, especially at exclusive Hotelbook rates.

And that wraps our four-course offering of summer festivals in Manhattan, making Manhattan that much more of an experience.  For a transcript of this podcast and links to more details about the hotels and festivals we covered, we invite you to our blog at blog.hotelbook.com.

Comments

[Jennifer]

I love it!