NYC

#1 Fashion Industry Event
More than 100,000 industry insiders turn out for eight consecutive days of runway shows and parties during each edition of the semiannual mega event, currently presented by title sponsor Mercedes-Benz. Next: September 5-12, 2013

#2 Fashion Industry Event
The Swarovski-sponsored black-tie gala, the industry's buzziest award show, honored Marc Jacobs as Womenswear Designer of the Year in 2012. Next: June 3, 2013

#3 Fashion Industry Event (up from #5)
Broadcast live on CBS, the music-and-fashion extravaganza, held at the 69th Regiment Armory, attracts national attention for bringing together many of the world’s name-brand supermodels. Next: November 2013

#4 Fashion Industry Event
The red-carpet event honoring designers, hosted by Simon Doonan in 2012, attracts a steady stream of A-list celebrities, like Sarah Jessica Parker and Renée Zellweger. Next: October 2013

#5 Fashion Industry Event
A hip benefit attracting a younger art and fashion-world crowd, the Art Party teamed up with online platform Artsy for a preparty e-commerce sale this year. Next: Spring 2014

#1 Advertising Industry Event
No competition for the top slot here: the 10-year-old event, now encompassing more than 200 different mini events, continues to be the must-hobnob gathering of the year for advertising executives. Next: September 23-27, 2013

#2 Advertising Industry Event (up from #3)
After returning to New York in 2010, the revamped award ceremony, held at the American Museum of Natural History, has reestablished itself as the industry's highest honor. Next: May 15, 2013

#3 Advertising Industry Event
Marking its 60th outing this year, the Ad Council's prestigious award ceremony attracts 1,110 corporate executives and other high-level advertising insiders. Next: November 20, 2013

#4 Advertising Industry Event
Now in 10 cities worldwide, the East Coast edition of the digital marketing conference brings 10,000 attendees to the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center each fall. Next: November 6-7, 2013

#5 Advertising Industry Event (new to the list)
Now encompassing more than 100 different events, the spring advertising, design, and digital media fest includes the One Club's prestigious One Show awards, as well as seminars, presentations, and roundtables. Next: Spring 2014

#1 Media Event
The celebration of power and influence exhibits broad appeal by crafting a unique mix of celebrity honorees and minglers from across genres—including Lena Dunham, Joe Biden, Jimmy Fallon, and Arianna Huffington in 2013. Next: Spring 2014

#2 Media Event
"The Ellies"—the highest honor in the world of glossy paper publishing—has expanded to digital categories in recent years and retooled with a more relaxed dinner setting. Next: Spring 2014

#3 Media Event
The seven-decade-old award is still one of print publishing's most prestigious prizes and a must-attend evening for many agents, authors, and publishers. Next: November 2013

#4 Media Event
Author Malcom Gladwell, rockers Vampire Weekend, and rocker-author Patti Smith were among the big names appearing at this highbrow cultural festival in 2012. Next: October 2013

#5 Media Event
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and photographer Annie Leibovitz were among the women honored at the diverse celebration of feminine accomplishment in 2012. Next: November 2013

#6 Media Event
CBS News anchor Scott Pelley is set to serve as M.C. at the awards honoring quality television, which will fete HBO's Girls this year. Next: May 20, 2013

#7 Media Event
Hosted by Joan Rivers in 2013, the long-running luncheon pays homage to women in media. Next: April 2014

#8 Media Event (new to the list)
The retooled old-media publishing event is adding new media sponsors like the Huffington Post in 2013, and it also brings in a larger array of publishers from global markets. Next: May 29-June 1, 2013

#1 Entertainment Industry Event
While TV broadcast networks are not quite the media behemoths of years past, the industry's annual inventory unveiling only grows larger with additional cable networks and other outlets joining in each year. Next: May 13-16, 2013

#2 Entertainment Industry Event
More than 6,000 film submissions competed to get in front of the almost 400,000 movie lovers who turned out for the 12-year-old festival this year. Next: April 2014

#3 Entertainment Industry Event
With 120,000 music fans filling 80 venues large and small, the one-time college-centric gathering is now the city's biggest live music party. Next: October 15-19, 2013

#4 Entertainment Industry Event
Lincoln Center's half-century-old movie festival is known for regularly premiering many of the films that go on to garner Oscar nominations. Next: September 2013

#5 Entertainment Industry Event
After two consecutive years at the Beacon Theatre, Broadway's biggest night is set to return to Radio City Music Hall this year with a live broadcast on CBS. Next: June 9, 2013

#6 Entertainment Industry Event (up from #8)
Bill Clinton presented the 40th annual prize to Barbara Streisand in 2013 at a fete that filled the 2,738-seat Avery Fisher Hall to capacity. Next: April 2014

#7 Entertainment Industry Event (new to the list)
Launched in 2011, the ever-expanding outdoor music festival has moved from its namesake isle up to Randall's Island, with Kanye West and Kings of Leon slated to headline in 2013. Next: June 7-9, 2013

#9 Entertainment Industry Event
Launched in 2005, the six-day event has added many independent TV creators in recent years, growing to 15,000 participants. Next: October 2013

#1 Tech Industry Event
As the Big Apple's start-up scene blossoms, the eight-day festival has grown to 10,000 attendees turning out for panels, meet-ups, and marquee events like the Webby Awards. Next: May 20-27, 2013

#2 Tech Industry Event
Rapidly catching up to the more established Internet Week in terms of the stamp it leaves on the city, the biannual gathering takes place in 10 global locations, with New York's events boasting the largest registration numbers at more than 9,000 in February. Next: September 23-27, 2013

#3 Tech Industry Event (new to the list)
While not exactly an annual event, the monthly pitch-fest is one of the local event landscape's greatest success stories, exploding from an informally organized gathering into an enthusiastic 30,000-member group. Next: June 11, 2013

#4 Tech Industry Event (new to the list)
Consumer electronics professionals flock to the city each summer for the weeklong gathering that includes sub-industry-specific conferences like the Digital Health Summit and the Ultra HD Conference. Next: June 24-28, 2013

#5 Tech Industry Event
Hosted by popular technology news site TechCrunch, Disrupt has quickly become one of the East Coast's buzziest technology showcases with more than 100 start-up companies jostling for attention. Next: Spring 2014

#1 Art, Design & Architecture Event
Now the centerpiece on an entire Armory Arts Week featuring several smaller fairs, New York's largest art show welcomed 60,000 visitors this year. Next: March 4-9, 2014

#2 Art, Design & Architecture Event
With exhibits from more than 350 brands, the city's biggest home design show grew to more than 43,000 attendees this year. The table installations for Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS' Dining by Design continues to be one of the year's highlights for the design community. Next: March 2014

#3 Art, Design & Architecture Event
Marking its 25th anniversary in 2013, the 165,000-square-foot, four-day show brings in 26,000 design professionals and consumers. Next: May 18-22, 2013

#4 Art, Design & Architecture Event
Held at Pier Sixty on the Hudson River last fall, the design awards honor contributions to aesthetics and functionality across industries. Next: October 2013

#5 Art, Design & Architecture Event (up from #6)
The city's largest consumer art event is across the river in Brooklyn with attendance topping 200,000 people annually. Next: September 27-29, 2013

#6 Art, Design & Architecture Event (new to the list)
Founded as part of Architecture Week in 2003, the annual peek inside New York's least visited structural wonders now brings out 200,000 eager viewers. Next: October 12-13, 2013

#7 Art, Design & Architecture Event
While the Art Dealers Association of America's big show doesn't attract as large a crowd as the concurrent Armory Show, it remains one of the city's most talked-about destinations for fine art fans. Next: March 2014

#8 Art, Design & Architecture Event (new to the list)
The average consumer's alternative to the high-end art show, the upstart event grew to 16,000 attendees in 2012 with more than $4 million worth of art sold. Next: October 3-6, 2013

#1 Food & Restaurant Industry Event
Fine cuisine's highest honor, the gala awards ceremony brings 2,000 foodies to Avery Fisher Hall; this year's event started with a special pre-presentation to book, broadcast, and journalism award winners at Gotham Hall three nights earlier. Next: Spring 2014

#2 Food & Restaurant Industry Event
Some 40,000 food lovers will take over the meatpacking district—and increasingly, venues throughout the city—for the sixth annual weekend-long gorge-fest this fall. Next: October 17-20, 2013

#3 Food & Restaurant Industry Event (new to the list)
After decamping to Washington for two years while the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center completed renovations, the Specialty Food Association's massive trade show returns to New York this summer with 180,000 products on display. Next: June 30-July 2, 2013

#4 Food & Restaurant Industry Event
More than 500 vendors took part in the industry showcase at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, which drew a record 16,000 attendees in its 20th outing. Next: March 2-4, 2014

#5 Food & Restaurant Industry Event
The longtime fund-raiser continues to hold the restaurant industry's attention, raising $828,000 from 1,000 guests last year. Next: June 10, 2013

#6 Food & Restaurant Industry Event
Now 25 years old, the magazine-bestowed honors are widely seen as a sign of a successful career-to-come for chefs around the nation. Next: Spring 2014

#1 Political & Diplomatic Event
Coinciding with U.N. Week each fall, former President Clinton's marquee annual event has brought together 150 heads of state and garnered some $73 billion in pledges for global aid. Next: September 23-26, 2013

#2 Political & Diplomatic Event
The traditional comedic break in the presidential campaign season, the Smith dinner brought together President Obama and Mitt Romney for the standard guffaws last fall and also brings local politicos together in off-years. Next: October 17, 2013

#3 Political & Diplomatic Event
New York's localized answer to the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner, the annual insiders' send-up took on added significance in 2013, with Mayor Bloomberg making a last hurrah at the end of his third term. Next: March 2014

#1 PR Industry Event
The six-decade-old awards are still the most prestigious prizes around for public relations professionals. Next: June 13, 2013

#2 PR Industry Event
Increasingly seen as an equal to the Silver Anvil awards, the 14-year-old industry awards attract a crowd of 900 to the Grand Hyatt hotel. Next: March 2014

#1 Beauty Industry Event
The Fragrance Foundation's biggest night brings out 1,000 designers, celebrities, and perfume professional for a red-carpet gala. Next: June 12, 2013

#2 Beauty Industry Event
Consistently one of the city's largest trade gatherings for professionals in any industry, the beauty show brings nearly 60,000 to the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. Next: March 9-11, 2014

#3 Beauty Industry Event
The only black-tie gala to encourage magenta accents, the nonprofit's Hot Pink Party raised more than $5 million for cancer research in 2013. Next: Spring 2014

#1 Trade Show & Convention
With more than a million attendees and 1,000 new vehicles on display, the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center's car show is consistently one of the year's more talked-about events. Next: Spring 2014

#2 Trade Show & Convention
The city's most celebrated geek fest continues to balloon in size with a record 116,000 attendees in 2012. Next: October 10-13, 2013

#3 Trade Show & Convention (up from #4)
Now in 13 cities around the country, the New York edition of the show regularly brings out nearly 70,000 high-octane adventure enthusiasts. Next: January 2014

#4 Trade Show & Convention
After a small recession-era decrease in attendance, the city's largest boat show was on the rise again in 2013 with almost 50,000 attendees. Next: January 2014

#5 Trade Show & Convention
Formerly known as the New York International Gift Fair, the biannual gathering of home, lifestyle, and gift retailers reels in 35,000 guests. Next: August 17-21, 2013

#6 Trade Show & Convention
One of the country's largest heath-care events, the professional trade show logged 53,481 visitors last year. Next: November 29-December 4, 2013

#7 Trade Show & Convention (up from #9)
An appearance by Bill Clinton helped the 102-year-old show boost attendance by 13 percent in 2012—a number that kept growing this year, to a record 27,600. Next: January 12-14, 2014

#8 Trade Show & Convention (new to the list)
The world's largest pet convention hosts 35,000 humans—and 210 vendors showcasing cats and dogs. Next: September 28-29, 2013

#9 Trade Show & Convention
The largest toy trade show in the Western Hemisphere showed off some 150,000 playful products this year. Next: February 16-19, 2014

#10 Trade Show & Convention
More than 500 destinations from around the globe were showcased at the latest edition of the city's most popular consumer travel event. Next: February 28-March 2, 2014

#1 Hospitality Industry Event
The 35-year-old gathering is the hotel industry's premier meeting of C.E.O.s and executives. Next: June 2-4, 2013

#2 Hospitality Industry Event
About 18,000 professionals from the lodging, dining, and travel industries are expected at Hospitality Media Group's trade show this fall. Next: November 9-12, 2013