Bryant Park’s Magical Winter Village Will Return This October

The Bank of America Winter Village at Bryant Park is opening before even the spookiest of days, kicking off its 21st season for 2022-23 on Friday, October 28 at 12 noon!

An October opening date means you’ll get the ultimate head start on the holiday season, and before Halloween even gets its time to shine you’ll have the chance to start on your holiday shopping. The Bryant Park Winter Village will be open through Sunday, March 5, 2023, except for the holiday market which will close on January 2. 

Like in past years, all of your favorite spots will be returning:

• The Rink: New York City’s only free admission ice skating rink, right in the middle of the Park. Reservations are even already open on their website!
• The Holiday Shops by Urbanspace: the beloved open-air market featuring more than 170 artisanal vendors selling unique gifts. This year’s merchants will be announced shortly!
• The Lodge: the covered, outdoor “après skate escape” where visitors can cozy up with a festive cocktail or food & watch the skaters (full menu to be announced soon as well).

Their 17,000-foot ice skating rink will be open daily from 8 a.m. until 10 p.m. throughout the season, and  on select weekends and holidays from 8 a.m.-midnight. The only free-admission ice skating rink in NYC, The Rink is completely outdoors, and skate time and rentals are already available to reserve in advance online here. New skate sessions and dates will be released on a rolling basis throughout the season, and Bank of America cardholders can save 10% on skate rentals all season long when using their Bank of America card at the time of purchase.

The Rink also hosts the wildly popular Bumper Cars on Ice, though they haven’t released any info on that yet regarding the 2023 season.

Also, the Small Business Spotlight presented by Bank of America will return, which lets four NYC minority-owned small businesses with annual revenues of $1 million or less showcase their products in a rent-free booth, made possible by Bank of America, as part of this season’s Holiday Shops. The four selected small businesses will be announced soon.

• Last year’s featured small businesses were vintage thrift shop Vampin’ Vintage, Black-owned bakery Bitchin’ Babkas, custom pet portrait startup Blue Paws Art, and handmade pottery shop Kalsang Pottery.
• This year, Kalsang Pottery will be returning to Bank of America Winter Village at Bryant Park as a full-time vendor.

With these past summer months being some of the hottest ones yet, any glimpse of cooler days to come is enough to get us through these dog days of summer, and knowing the Bryant Park Winter Village is on the horizon is enough to get us excited for the holiday season!

What: Winter Village, find out more on their website here.

Where: Bryant Park, between 40th and 42nd St. & Fifth and Sixth Ave.

When: Late October 28, 2022 – March 5, 2023

Also published on Medium.