{"id":161838,"date":"2026-03-12T22:17:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T22:17:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/161838\/"},"modified":"2026-03-12T22:17:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T22:17:07","slug":"full-nyc-dates-for-the-japanese-street-food-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/161838\/","title":{"rendered":"Full NYC Dates for the Japanese Street Food Festival"},"content":{"rendered":"

New York\u2019s outdoor food festival season is about to get a delicious jumpstart. JAPAN Fes<\/a>, one of the city\u2019s most beloved street food events, is returning later this month to celebrate a major milestone: its 10th anniversary in New York City.<\/p>\n

The festival officially launches its 2026 season on March 28 at Astor Place in the East Village<\/a>, bringing dozens of Japanese food vendors to the streets for a full day of snacking, sipping and exploring. If you miss that first event, another festival will follow the very next day on March 29 on 40th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues in Midtown.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s just the beginning. Organizers say at least 34 JAPAN Fes events are already scheduled across New York City this year, with more likely to be added as the season unfolds. Each event typically runs from 10 am to 6 pm and pops up in neighborhoods across Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve never been, imagine a block party devoted entirely to Japanese street food. Vendors serve everything from teriyaki chicken skewers and crispy karaage to onigiri, ramen, takoyaki and yakisoba. Sweet treats like matcha shaved ice and bubble tea also make frequent appearances, along with Japanese snacks, crafts and cultural booths.<\/p>\n

What started as a local New York City event in 2016 has grown into something much bigger. JAPAN Fes now hosts events around the world, including stops in Florida, Texas and even Paris. Organizers say 2026 will be the festival\u2019s most ambitious year yet, with plans for more than 80 events globally.<\/p>\n

The growing popularity reflects a wider appetite for Japanese culture and cuisine, but the festival\u2019s mission goes beyond food. Organizers often talk about the concept of \u201cwa,\u201d the Japanese idea of harmony, which they see as the spirit behind bringing communities together through shared cultural experiences.<\/p>\n

That international expansion is already underway this spring. Before arriving in New York, the 2026 season will kick off with events in Miami, Austin and Paris earlier in March. Still, New York remains the heart of it all. The city hosted the very first JAPAN Fes nearly a decade ago, and today it continues to hold the largest lineup of events anywhere in the world.<\/p>\n

If you suddenly spot a street filled with the smell of sizzling yakisoba and fresh takoyaki this spring, chances are you\u2019ve just wandered into one of the city\u2019s tastiest festivals.<\/p>\n

Here are the 2026 JAPAN Fes dates in NYC:<\/p>\n

March
\n
\nMarch 28 in the East Village
\nMarch 29 in Midtown West <\/p>\n

April
\n
\nApril 4 in the Village
\nApril 5 on the Upper West Side
\nApril 11 in the East Village
\nApril 12 in the East Village
\nApril 18 in Morningside Heights
\nApril 19 in Chelsea
\nApril 25 in Chelsea
\nApril 26 in Astoria <\/p>\n

May
\n
\nMay 2 on the Upper East Side
\nMay 3 on the Upper West Side
\nMay 9 in Chelsea
\nMay 24 in the Village
\nMay 30 on the Upper East Side
\nMay 31 in the East Village <\/p>\n

June
\n
\nJune 6 in the East Village
\nJune 7 on the Upper West Side
\nJune 14 in the East Village
\nJune 21 in Brooklyn
\nJune 27 in Times Square
\nJune 28 in Astoria <\/p>\n

July
\n
\nJuly 11 in Chelsea
\nJuly 19 in Times Square <\/p>\n

August
\n
\nAugust 2 on the Upper West Side <\/p>\n

September
\n
\nSeptember 12 in Chelsea
\nSeptember 13 in Chelsea
\nSeptember 19 on the Upper East Side
\nSeptember 26 in Morningside Heights
\nSeptember 27 on the Upper East Side <\/p>\n

October
\n
\nOctober 3 in the East Village
\nOctober 10 in Astoria
\nOctober 24 in the East Village
\nOctober 25 on the Upper West Side <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New York\u2019s outdoor food festival season is about to get a delicious jumpstart. JAPAN Fes, one of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":161839,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[2590,9,24,55,54,2591,56,821],"class_list":{"0":"post-161838","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-city","8":"tag-categories-restaurants","9":"tag-new-york","10":"tag-new-york-city","11":"tag-new-york-city-headlines","12":"tag-new-york-city-news","13":"tag-news-eating","14":"tag-ny","15":"tag-restaurants"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161838","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=161838"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161838\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/161839"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=161838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=161838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=161838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}