Bryant Park Winter Village

Bryant Park Winter Village is the rare New York holiday tradition that costs nothing to join. The rink opens on October 28, 2026 and runs through late February 2027, and admission to skate is free — you only pay if you need to rent skates, which run about $19 a pair. Bring your own and the whole evening is free. Around the ice, the Holiday Shops fill the park's paths with more than 170 glass-fronted kiosks selling gifts, ceramics, jewellery, hot chocolate and food from small New York vendors, and the Lodge and food kiosks give you somewhere warm to stand with a drink. The park sits directly behind the New York Public Library between Fifth and Sixth Avenues, which makes it the easiest holiday stop in Midtown to reach and the easiest to fold into a bigger day. The rink keeps long hours — generally from 8am to 10pm, extended to midnight through the peak weeks between mid-November and early January. As a date night it is close to unbeatable: skate first, then eat your way along the kiosks. Go on a weekday evening if you can; weekend afternoons in December are the busiest hours of the entire season. Skate rentals, lockers and the market's own hours are listed on bryantpark.org, and we have not published a closing date for the shops because it has not been officially announced.