Hester Street Fair is proudly returning to Bryant Park! This year, find our incredible lineup of food vendors alongside an incredible lineup of NYC production companies who are coming into the park to give free performances you would not be able to find elsewhere.

The 2022 season of Picnic Performances presented by Bank of America showcases twenty-six live and in-person music, dance, and theater events produced in partnership with a diverse and storied lineup of New York City’s performing arts institutions. Over 20 of this season’s events will also be available to live stream in their entirety.

Need more info? Look here.

Special Performance

The night will feature the American Symphony Orchestra. The program opens with Aaron Copland’s Quiet City, a piece he took from his incidental music to Irwin Shaw’s short-lived play by the same name. The drama’s plot focused on two brothers who took conflicting life paths; one pursued success in business, while the other aspired to play the trumpet. American composer Louise Talma’s Full Circle, written for pianist Sahan Arzruni and conductor Robert Black in 1985, is constructed in one movement with contrasting sections that revert to the opening of the piece. A teacher at Hunter College for more than 50 years, she was the first woman awarded back-to-back Guggenheims in 1946 and 1947, and the first woman elected to the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters in 1974.

Food service starts at 4:30 PM and the performance starts at 7PM.

Vendor Lineup

Fresh Factor, Krishna Kitchen, Maze Maze, and Tacos el Guero