Events To Attend

#1 Advertising Industry Event
Last year’s 10th anniversary drew 95,000 ad industry professionals to New York for presentations and performances by luminaries ranging from Sheryl Sandberg and Michael Strahan to Jessica Alba. This year, more than 100,000 will gather for a week of education and entertainment throughout Manhattan. Next: September 28-October 2, 2015

#2 Advertising Industry Event
The ad industry’s prestigious 55-year-old award platform has branched out to include Clio Image and Clio Sports awards in the spring and summer, along with the flagship event in the fall. Next: October 2015

#3 Advertising Industry Event
With 225 exhibitors and 30 conference sessions, the New York iteration of the global series dedicated to digital marketing is expected to bring 7,000 attendees to the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center this fall. Next: November 4-5, 2015

#4 Advertising Industry Event
At the Waldorf Astoria, 1,350 guests—and host Stephen Colbert—honored winners of the prominent industry organization’s award last year. Next: November 11, 2015

#5 Advertising Industry Event
Since 2010, the One Club has brought together media professionals in advertising, design, and digital for a week of unconference-style learning, networking, and the One Show awards. Next: May 4-8, 2015

#1 Food & Restaurant Industry Event (up from #2)
Last year, 55,000 foodies munched their way through four days and 100 events at the seventh iteration of the festival. They sampled culinary creations by Food Network fixtures like Robert Irvine and raised $1 million for Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry campaign and the Food Bank For New York City. For this year, organizers say mixology will play a bigger role. Next: October 15-18, 2015

#2 Food & Restaurant Industry Event (up from #3)
Last summer, 22,000 attendees came to the 361,000-square-foot trade show, which encompassed everything in the world of food from award-winning pink salt to a presentation by the inventor of New York’s popular croissant-doughnut hybrid. Next: June 28-30, 2015

#3 Food & Restaurant Industry Event (up from #4)
Organizers expect 16,800 attendees will attend this year’s show at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. New this year: an area dubbed “the Pub” where new trends in alcoholic beverages are highlighted, and a new education section on the show floor where attendees can learn about business strategies. Next: March 8-10, 2015

#4 Food & Restaurant Industry Event (up from #5)
Last year, the 1,100 guests at the coastal-theme affair raised $820,000 to provide meals to housebound senior citizens. Organizers say guests can expect special guests and features this year, the event’s 30th anniversary. Next: June 8, 2015

#5 Food & Restaurant Industry Event (up from #6)
At last year’s 25th anniversary bash, Food & Wine editor in chief Dana Cowin honored winners with a colorful, street-art-inspired theme at the American Museum of Natural History. This year the magazine’s event takes place at the Edison Ballroom in Midtown. Next: March 31, 2015

#6 Food & Restaurant Industry Event (new to the list)
Since its launch in 2009, the five-day event has grown to include more than 100 ticketed events for the public as well as a two-day conference for the trade. Next: May 15-19, 2015

#1 Political & Diplomatic Event
The Clinton Foundation’s flagship event brings together philanthropists, Nobel Prize winners, and political and corporate leaders to discuss issues ranging from food security to health care access to environmental preservation. Next: September 19-22, 2015

#2 Political & Diplomatic Event
This year marks the 70th anniversary of the gathering of political and media elite. Last year, news anchor Charlie Rose hosted the 800-guest dinner. Next: November 10, 2015

#3 Political & Diplomatic Event
Last year, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio was joined by actors Cynthia Nixon and Steve Buscemi at the annual send-up of local and national politicians, which raised more than $500,000. Next: March 28, 2015

#4 Political & Diplomatic Event
Around 200 C.E.O.s, politicians, and philanthropists will gather to discuss the year’s theme, global health, when the annual summit convenes. Previous participants have included Warren Buffett, Malala Yousafzai, and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. Next: June 2015

#5 Political & Diplomatic Event (new to the list)
The reach of Tina Brown’s six-year-old event is growing beyond its Lincoln Center home this year. A new partnership with The New York Times will bring the launch of a “Women in the World” digital channel to the Times’s website next month. Next: April 22-24, 2015

#1 Fashion Industry Event
February 2015’s iteration was Fashion Week’s final runway turn under tents at Lincoln Center, following a December ruling from New York’s Supreme Court that the event can no longer remain on the Upper West Side cultural campus until 2020 as planned. The upcoming change in venue won’t stop 100,000 of the industry’s notables and hopefuls from turning out to view the creative displays of more than 80 designers. Next: September 10-17, 2015

#2 Fashion Industry Event
The prestigious awards honor top contributors in fashion design, journalism, and achievement at Lincoln Center. Last year’s Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award went to designer Tom Ford, while Rihanna picked up a Fashion Icon Award. Next: June 1, 2015

#3 Fashion Industry Event (up from #4)
In 2014 Highline Stages in the meatpacking district, near the museum’s new home at Washington and Gansevoort Streets, played host to 800 young art and fashion trendsetters for the Whitney Museum of American Art’s fashionable soiree. The annual event raises funds for the museum’s Independent Study Program. Next: Summer 2015

#1 Trade Show & Convention
More than a million people are expected to attend the 115th annual show this year. The Greater New York Auto Dealers Association's flagship event sprawls over 950,000 square feet in the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center and adjacent pavilion areas. Next: April 3-12, 2015

#2 Trade Show & Convention
More than 150,000 comic and anime fans filled the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center last year, as the organizers expanded the show with the launch of “Super Week,” 150 events taking place throughout the city in the nine days leading up to Comic Con. Next: October 8-11, 2015

#3 Trade Show & Convention
Shifting to a December time slot led to a rocky start for the Progressive Insurance-sponsored show in 2013, but it rebounded in 2014, attracting 63,515 attendees, an eight percent jump over the previous year. Next: December 11-13, 2015

#4 Trade Show & Convention
At 110 years old, the event still draws huge crowds to the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. In 2015, visitors got to check out attractions like a 51-foot, $1.2 million yacht and a special exhibit honoring the FDNY. Progressive Insurance is the title sponsor. Next: January 6-10, 2016

#5 Trade Show & Convention
The summer version of the biannual gift fair encompasses more than half a million square feet of exhibit space at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center and Pier 94 on the Hudson River; winter’s saw some 2,500 exhibitors in home, crafts, gifts, and related categories.  Next: August 15-19, 2015

#6 Trade Show & Convention
The meeting had nearly 54,000 registrants for its 90th anniversary last year, including 18,300 dentists, and organizers say they expect a bigger crowd in 2015. Next: November 27-December 2, 2015

#7 Trade Show & Convention
The National Retail Federation’s flagship event drew a crowd of 33,000 for its 104th annual convention in January. Next: January 17-20, 2016

#8 Trade Show & Convention (up from #10)
This year’s show had more than 500 exhibitors—including 130 first-timers—and more than 28,500 attendees, a jump of more than 10 percent in trade attendance and nearly 25 percent in consumer attendees over last year. Next: January 8-10, 2016

#9 Trade Show & Convention
Billed as the largest toy fair in the Western Hemisphere, the annual product marketplace is produced by nonprofit trade association Toy Industry Association. This year saw 30,000 attendees from 100 countries filling a record-breaking 422,000 square feet of exhibit space at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. Next: February 2016

#1 PR Industry Event
Around 450 public relations professionals turned out last year for the prestigious award ceremony in Midtown, and organizers expect as many as 500 this year. Next: June 4, 2015

#2 PR Industry Event
Last year’s event at the Grand Hyatt New York drew nearly 1,000 members of the public relations field. In 2014 Edie Windsor was honored with the communicator of the year award (it went to Malala Yousafzai in 2013). Next: March 19, 2015

#1 Benefit
The annual benefit for the Met’s Costume Institute is no ordinary fund-raiser. A-listers from the fashion and entertainment worlds turned out to walk the red carpet for last year’s tribute to couturier Charles James. The upcoming theme is based on the spring exhibition, “China: Through the Looking Glass,” and the event will bring together an eclectic list of co-chairs along with honorary chair Silas Chou: Jennifer Lawrence, Gong Li, Marissa Mayer, Wendi Murdoch, and Anna Wintour. Next: May 4, 2015

#2 Benefit
New York’s top executives are always among the 4,000 guests at the high-end, high-concept benefit at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. Last year, former NBC News anchor Brian Williams hosted, and Grammy winner Bruno Mars headlined the entertainment. The blockbuster event raised $60 million, including $35 million for the new Robin Hood American Dream Fund, which supports nonprofits that assist immigrants. Next: May 12, 2015

#3 Benefit
The elite in entertainment and art mingle with New York high society at the benefit held in MoMA’s sculpture garden, which honored Daniel Craig, Steve McQueen, and Maja Oeri last year. Swedish singer-songwriter Lykke Li performed with a full band for the after-party. Next: June 2, 2015

#4 Benefit
The annual event brought in $4.3 million for the museum last year, when 620 guests gathered at the Whitney’s Breuer Building on the Upper East Side for the final time before the museum’s relocation downtown to the meatpacking district this year. Next: Fall 2015

#5 Benefit
Some 1,200 celebrities and society figures will gather under the Tent at Lincoln Center for the classical ballet company’s 75th anniversary gala this spring. Performances, guest speakers, and film excerpts will pay tribute to the theater’s legacy. Next: May 18, 2015

#6 Benefit
In a season kickoff marked by protests, last year’s performance of Le Nozze di Figaro was enjoyed by guests at Lincoln Center’s plaza as well as fans watching on a Times Square simulcast. Next: September 21, 2015

#7 Benefit (up from #8)
Buzz continues to build about the 900-guest fund-raiser for the increasingly high-profile High Line park. Last year’s presenters included Cynthia Nixon and Darren Walker; Susan Sarandon is among the honorees for this year’s event, which takes place at Pier 36 on the East River. Next: May 20, 2015

#8 Benefit
Last year, the annual gala to benefit the library honored literary notables Margaret Atwood, Dave Eggers, Kazuo Ishiguro, Robert B. Silvers, and actress and academic Anna Deavere Smith. Next: November 2, 2015

#9 Benefit (up from #11)
The unofficial kickoff to Fashion Week draws 700 guests to Cipriani Wall Street. The entertainment and fashion insiders who attend have collectively raised $15 million for AIDS research. Next: February 2016

#10 Benefit
The daytime gathering of some 1,300 of New York’s high society—and nearly as many fanciful hats—raised $3.5 million for Central Park last year, and paid honors to outgoing Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Next: May 6, 2015

#11 Benefit
With a “celestial” theme inspired by art depicting celestial and mythological themes, the popular event drew 600 young socialites in 2014. Fashion house Paule Ka sponsored, and DJ Jason Fioto spun for the revelers. Next: March 26, 2015

#12 Benefit
Now in its eighth year, the annual fund-raiser will take place at the Pierre Hotel. More than 400 guests came to the Waldorf Astoria for the event last year, which raised $1.3 million for the society. Next: May 12, 2015

#13 Benefit
Sponsored and chaired by designer Caroline Herrera, this spring’s annual fund-raiser will take its inspiration from an upcoming exhibition on Frida Kahlo. The 650 guests will spend the evening in the gardens and conservatory and under tents on the Botanical Gardens’ 250 acres. Next: June 4, 2015

#14 Benefit
More than 750 guests came together at Cipriani Wall Street to honor Carly Cushnie and Michelle Ochs, listen to a performance by Ziggy Marley, and raise $2.5 million at the evening’s live auction. Next: November 2015

#15 Benefit (up from #16)
One of the holiday season’s biggest fund-raisers, the ball raised a whopping $3.4 million in 2014—on top of the $18 million raised in the previous decade. Now in its 11th year, the ball will host 700 guests Cipriani Wall Street again. Next: December 1, 2015

#16 Benefit
Last year, the benefit featured performances by co-founder Alicia Keys, David Byrne, Nas, and Angel Haze, and raised $2.3 million to fight AIDS. This year’s fund-raiser will once again take place at the Hammerstein Ballroom. Next: Fall 2015

#17 Benefit
Raising $1.2 million annually to support New York City kids in foster care, the benefit will bring 750 guests to Cipriani 42nd Street to honor Steve Pemberton, chief diversity officer at Walgreens/Duane Reade, in 2015. Next: September 16, 2015

#1 Technology Industry Event
Since launching in 2008, the weeklong event has grown to include 250 headquarters events and another 150 produced by local event partners. Presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, the Webby Awards honor the best of the Web and are always a highlight of Internet Week. Next: May 18-24, 2015

#2 Technology Industry Event
The New York version of what has grown into a 21-city series has speakers ranging from Martha Stewart to Jesse Jackson this year. Next: February 23-27, 2015

#3 Technology Industry Event
The series is still going strong since its inception in 2004, drawing about 800 to its monthly meetings. It also is partnering once again with New York City Economic Development Corporation to bring content about New York City’s tech industry to the South by Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas. Next: March 3, 2015

#4 Technology Industry Event (up from #6)
The third year of the event brings a big bump in attendance, from 13,000 in 2014 to an expected 15,000 this year. Next: April 23, 2015

#5 Technology Industry Event
More than 3,000 tech professionals flocked to the Metropolitan Pavilion as well as satellite locations for a week of events. Next: June 22-26, 2015

#1 Media Event
The venerable newsweekly’s annual roundup of who’s who in the world is celebrated with a gala that brings a diverse set of political, entertainment, and business notables together. Last year, Laverne Cox, Rand Paul, Pharrell, and Ronan Farrow all walked the red carpet at Time magazine’s event at Jazz at Lincoln Center. Next: April 21, 2015

#2 Media Event
Since 1966, the venerable award ceremony has conferred the industry’s top honors. This year, host organization the American Society of Magazine Editors presented Time photojournalist James Nachtwey with the Creative Excellence Award. Next: February 2016

#3 Media Event
The magazine’s annual gathering of literary minds turned 15 last year and drew nearly 19,000 people to more than 60 events over three days. This year, organizers are growing the festival’s virtual and online programming. Next: October 2-4, 2015

#4 Media Event
The National Book Foundation’s annual award ceremony turns 65 this year. In 2014, 700 guests gathered at Cipriani Wall Street to honor publishing’s best and brightest. Next: November 18, 2015

#5 Media Event
For 25 years, Glamour has recognized women who make a difference in politics, culture, and entertainment. Last year’s ceremony paid honors to Lupita Nyong'o—whose performance in the movie 12 Years a Slave earned her an Oscar—Chelsea Clinton, Mindy Kaling, and Laverne Cox, among others. Next: November 9, 2015

#6 Media Event
Some 1,200 guests will gather at the Waldorf Astoria to recognize women like New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and BET Networks chair and C.E.O. Debra L. Lee at this year’s lunch. Next: April 27, 2015

#7 Media Event (up from #8)
This year, changes are coming to the respected media award ceremony. It moves to Cipriani Wall Street and shifts from a midday event to an evening reception and dinner. Next: May 31, 2015

#8 Media Event
The trade fair brings 20,000 publishing-industry attendees to the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center every year. China is this year’s guest of honor and is sending a significant delegation to the show. Next: May 27-29, 2015

#1 Art, Design & Architecture Event
Nearly 200 galleries from 28 countries showcase modern and contemporary art for 65,000 attendees at Piers 92 and 94, kicking off the exhibitions and events of Armory Arts Week. This year, the sixth annual Armory Focus will highlight Middle Eastern, North African, and Mediterranean art. Next: March 5-8, 2015

#2 Art, Design & Architecture Event
More than 40,000 attendees come to the show to see everything from high-end retail brands to artisanal craftsmanship, from as near as New York and as far as the Netherlands. Once again the Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS will kick off its 2015 tour at the show, expanding Dining by Design to Pier 92. Next: March 19-22, 2015

#3 Art, Design & Architecture Event
In its 27th year, the trade fair will offer its 31,000-plus attendees something new: HO.MI., a new pavilion encompassing 120 brands and designers affiliated with the biannual HO.MI. Milano exhibition in Italy. Next: May 16-19, 2015

#5 Art, Design & Architecture Event (up from #6)
Held on Randall's Island and sponsored by Deutsche Bank, the four-year-old contemporary art fair showcasing nearly 200 galleries from more than 30 countries drew 40,000 attendees in 2014. Next: May 14-17, 2015

#6 Art, Design & Architecture Event (up from #7)
Open House New York has other year-round programs, but nothing as large as its annual weekend event, when as many as 70,000 visitors come to hundreds of architecturally significant buildings in all five boroughs. Next: October 17-18, 2015

#7 Art, Design & Architecture Event (up from #8)
The prestigious event draws 600 for cocktails—300 for dinner—at the academy’s downtown campus. This year, Interview and Art in America founder Peter M. Brant is the event’s honoree. Next: April 13, 2015

#1 Entertainment Industry Event
The annual courtship ritual of TV networks wooing advertisers has taken a turn for the digital, with networks adding hashtags and social communication platforms for consumers to the traditional roster of presentations and parties. And as some of the larger networks look to consolidate their efforts, an increasing number of digital content channels are joining the NewFronts, a series of events hosted before the upfronts. Next: May 11-14, 2015

#2 Entertainment Industry Event
This year, the city’s biggest film festival is adding a “creative hub” for many of its non-screening events such as talks and parties and expanding its footprint to once again include Regal Cinemas Battery Park for film screenings. Next: April 15-26, 2015

#3 Entertainment Industry Event
Although the dates for the 2015 incarnation of the incubator for new musical talent were unavailable as of press time, the fall festival has drawn crowds of 120,000 to more than 80 venues in Manhattan and Brooklyn in previous years. Next: October 2015

#4 Entertainment Industry Event
Some 70,000 New Yorkers will head to Alice Tully Hall, the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center, and other venues over the course of the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s event, now in its 53rd year. Next: September 25-October 11, 2015

#5 Entertainment Industry Event
For the Oscars of the theater world, presented by the American Theatre Wing and the Broadway League, 5,000 will gather at Radio City Music Hall to honor the winners. Next: June 7, 2015

#6 Entertainment Industry Event
Now in its 42nd year, the 3,100-person gala will honor actor, environmentalist, and Sundance Film Festival and Institute founder Robert Redford. Redford joins an illustrious list of Film Society honorees, including Martin Scorsese, Meryl Streep, Sidney Poitier, and, last year, Rob Reiner. Next: April 27, 2015

#7 Entertainment Industry Event
The Randall’s Island takeover might only be in its fifth year, but its rapid expansion has made it a must-attend for thousands of music fans—135,000 in 2014. This year, headliners include Drake, the Black Keys, Deadmau5, My Morning Jacket, and Björk. Next: June 5-7, 2015

#8 Entertainment Industry Event
Coming off a recent Golden Globe win, actress Julianne Moore was the honoree at the Astoria museum’s gala, now in its 29th year. Next: Winter 2016

#9 Entertainment Industry Event
Although less than a decade old, the Williamsburg, Brooklyn, festival is going strong. It will include 400 bands, 150 speakers, and 50 films this year. Next: June 8-14, 2015

#1 Hospitality Industry Event
In 2014 the trade show gave its 14,435 attendees access to 522 industry suppliers during four days of exhibits and conference sessions. At this year’s 100th anniversary of the event, organizers expect 15,000 to attend.  Next: November 8-10, 2015

#2 Hospitality Industry Event
Every year, more than 2,000 hotel C.E.O.s, owners, developers, investors, lenders, analysts, and other hospitality leaders gather at the New York Marriott Marquis to learn and network. This year, sponsors will be able to view a conference live stream. Next: May 31-June 2, 2015

#3 Hospitality Industry Event
The hotel industry’s biggest award night, the awards draw as many as 1,000 guests. This year, the reception is sponsored by Booking.com and Google. Next: February 23, 2015

#1 Parade, Festival & Holiday Event
The department store giant, which has been hosting the parade since 1924, says that three million spectators turned out to watch its signature giant balloons float down to Macy’s Herald Square flagship, while another 22 million watched on TV. Next: November 26, 2015

#2 Parade, Festival & Holiday Event
The iconic celebration ringing in the New Year is nearly a century old, but attractions like Idina Menzel singing “Let It Go” and an annual news highlights reel presented by the Associated Press keep it fresh for the million-plus spectators who flock to Midtown for the revelry. Next: December 31, 2015

#3 Parade, Festival & Holiday Event
The Labor Day celebration of Caribbean heritage fills Brooklyn’s Crown Heights neighborhood with the music, dance, and costumes of the Islands. Next: September 7, 2015

#4 Parade, Festival & Holiday Event
A fixture since 1970, the year after the Stonewall Riots galvanized the L.G.B.T. rights movement, the march blends commemoration with colorful displays that make it a rallying event for L.G.B.T. pride in New York City. Next: June 28, 2015

#5 Parade, Festival & Holiday Event
With the theme “Un Pueblo, Muchas Voces” (One Nation, Many Voices), the celebration of Puerto Rican culture and community bounced back after organizational turmoil left its future in question. Last year, organizers tripled the number of scholarships it gives out to Puerto Rican students by growing its scholarship fund from $10,000 to $30,000. Next: June 14, 2015

#7 Parade, Festival & Holiday Event
The first Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center dates back to 1931; lights were added two years later. Now, thousands of spectators brave the cold to watch performances and other festivities when the switch is thrown. Next: December 2, 2015

#8 Parade, Festival & Holiday Event
Despite only launching in 2008, the citywide event attracted an impressive 320,000 participants to 77 programs in 22 venues in 2014. This year’s festivities celebrate the 100th anniversary of Einstein’s theory of relativity. Next: May 27-31, 2015

#1 Sports Event
More than 700,000 spectators came to watch tennis stars play in Flushing Meadows, which began a transformation last year that will include renovating to the U.S.T.A. Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, building a roof on Arthur Ashe Stadium, and adding the new Louis Armstrong Stadium by 2018. Next: August 31-September 13, 2015

#2 Sports Event
More than 50,000 runners crossed the finish line of the world’s biggest marathon in 2014, which marked the race’s first year with new title sponsor Tata Consultancy Services, along with new sponsors Airbnb and Tag Heuer. Next: November 1, 2015

#3 Sports Event (up from #5)
This is the venerable dog show’s first year running co-located with the American Kennel Club’s Meet the Breeds. The extended “Westminster Week” also includes an agility competition for the second year in a row. Next: February 2016

#4 Sports Event
The event makes a splash whether it’s held at Madison Square Garden or Brooklyn’s Barclays Center (this year’s location was not determined at press time). Next: June 25, 2015

#5 Sports Event
Rolling out a new website and branding, the TD Bank-sponsored ride attracts a sold-out crowd of 32,000 participants. Next: May 3, 2015

#2 Beauty Industry Event
The Jacob K. Javits Convention Center plays host to nearly 500 exhibitors and almost 63,000 beauty professionals, who can walk the floor as well as attend more than 100 educational sessions held by industry luminaries like Ted Gibson. Next: March 8-10, 2015

#3 Beauty Industry Event
After hosting 1,100 guests in 2014, the foundation says it expects 1,250 this year—the maximum capacity of the Waldorf Astoria where the annual party is held. This year’s co-chairs include Tory Burch, Michael Kors, Vera Wang, and Aerin Lauder. Elizabeth Hurley will serve as M.C. Next: April 30, 2015

#2 Business & Financial Industry Event (new to the list)
For the 2014 event, billed as the biggest trade show for business in New York, 10,000 attendees filled the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center for education and networking activities like 40 seminars and four keynotes. Next: October 27, 2015

#3 Business & Financial Industry Event
A who’s-who of business and tech elite, the event drew 534 attendees last year, an increase of more than 25 percent over 2013. Next: May 2015

#4 Business & Financial Industry Event (new to the list)
Business Insider’s flagship conference has featured speakers with serious corporate chops like Jeff Bezos, Mark Cuban, and Elon Musk. Last year drew a crowd of 700. Next: December 8-9, 2015