A concert night at Forest Hills Stadium: a Richmond Hill guide to the summer shows

For a lot of Richmond Hill it's the closest big-name music you can get to without leaving Queens: Forest Hills Stadium, the open-air venue just north of us in Forest Hills, hosting national headliners on summer nights. The season runs roughly June through October, and the warm-weather months are the busiest stretch of the calendar — which is exactly when it makes sense to turn a show into a full evening rather than a scramble.

This is a local's plan for that night: how to actually get there from Richmond Hill (the parking situation surprises people), where to grab food first, how to time doors and the trip home, and where a licensed dispensary stop honestly fits. Short version on that last part — it's the warm-up at home before you leave, if you're 21 or older, and never the venue itself. We'll be specific about why below.

What is Forest Hills Stadium, and why does it feel different from an arena?

Forest Hills Stadium is a historic open-air stadium built in 1923 as the home of the West Side Tennis Club. It hosted the US Open for decades — until the tournament moved to Flushing Meadows in the late 1970s — and it has a deep music history too, from the Beatles in the 1960s through the acts that fill its calendar today. It seats around 13,000, which is a fraction of a Barclays or a Garden, so even a big night feels closer to the stage than an arena does.

The catch that shapes everything else: it's tucked inside Forest Hills Gardens, a quiet, historic residential neighborhood of Tudor-style homes. That's why the venue is strict about parking, why shows tend to end at a reasonable hour, and why the surrounding blocks stay calm even on a sold-out night. Plan around the neighborhood, not against it.

How do you get to Forest Hills Stadium from Richmond Hill?

Start with the thing that trips people up: the venue explicitly tells you not to drive and park. There's no parking on site, and the residential streets nearby aren't an option either. So build the night around transit or a drop-off, not a parking spot. From Richmond Hill you've got a few honest choices:

• Subway (E / F / M / R) to Forest Hills–71st Avenue. This is the workhorse. The station sits on Queens Boulevard a short walk from the stadium, and the E and F run express, so it moves. From Richmond Hill you'll connect to it — pick your nearest line and transfer toward Forest Hills; give a weekend trip some buffer.
• LIRR Port Washington Branch to Forest Hills. The commuter-rail option drops you right at Station Square, essentially at the venue's doorstep. If you take it, board the front cars — the platform at Forest Hills is short — and follow the crowd the couple of blocks south to the gate.
• Local bus. The Q23 runs up through central Queens to the Forest Hills–71st Avenue area along Woodhaven Boulevard and Metropolitan Avenue, so depending on where you are in the neighborhood it can be a low-stress one-seat-ish ride to the subway hub near the stadium.
• Rideshare or a drop-off. Perfectly fine for arrival — just have your driver drop you a block or two out to avoid the post-show crush, and remember there's nowhere to leave a car, so this is drop-and-go, not park-and-stay.

Where should you eat before the show?

Two easy angles here — eat in the neighborhood on your way, or eat right by the venue.

On the way, in Richmond Hill: Jamaica Avenue and Liberty Avenue are stacked with the neighborhood's Indo-Caribbean and South Asian kitchens — roti, doubles, curry, and West Indian bakeries — so it's easy to line your stomach with something real before a long standing night. Our local guide to Richmond Hill points to the strip. Grabbing food early also pairs nicely with the pre-show plan below, since eating first is just smart before any drinks or edibles.

By the venue, in Forest Hills: the Austin Street corridor near the Forest Hills–71st Avenue station is the local restaurant-and-bar row — a compact, walkable stretch of sit-down spots and quick bites a few minutes from the gate. It's the natural place to land if you take the subway in and want to eat close to showtime.

How should you time the evening?

Open-air summer shows have a rhythm worth planning around:

1. Doors are usually a good while before the headliner — check your specific ticket, but budget to arrive with time to clear the gate, find your seat, and settle in without rushing.
2. The best light is early. Sunset over an open-air stadium in June or July is part of the appeal; get there in time to catch it rather than jogging in during the first song.
3. Shows tend to wrap up relatively early — often around 10pm — precisely because the stadium sits in a residential neighborhood. That's good news for the trip home: you're not stumbling to a train at 1am.
4. Leave a buffer for the ride back. A few thousand people hit the same station at once when the lights come up. If you're not in a hurry, let the first wave clear.

Where does cannabis fit into a concert night — and where doesn't it?

Here's the straight version. If you're 21 or older, a licensed dispensary is a normal errand, and a relaxed warm-up at home before a show is a real use case. But cannabis does not come with you to the stadium. A couple of rules stack up:

• Public consumption is illegal in New York. You can't legally use cannabis in public spaces — and a concert venue, the sidewalks around it, and the subway or LIRR getting there all count. Venues run bag checks and their own rules on top of that.
• It's a residential neighborhood. Forest Hills Gardens is people's front yards. Keeping consumption at home, before you leave, is both the law and just being a decent guest in someone else's neighborhood.

So the sensible shape of the night, if it's part of your plan: enjoy a little at home in Richmond Hill before you head out, then travel and enjoy the show clear-headed. Cannabis Cowboy is a licensed New York adult-use dispensary on Jamaica Avenue in [Richmond Hill](/dispensary/richmond-hill) — right on the way north toward Forest Hills — so it's easy to pick up what you want the day before or on your way home from work. Everything on the shelf moves through the state's tested, tracked supply chain, and the menu price is the final price, since New York's 13% cannabis tax is already built in. Bring a current 21+ photo ID. New to it? Read what to expect on a first visit.

Which in-stock products fit a pre-show evening at home?

For a warm-up before you head out, the easy-to-portion, lower-key formats fit best — a single drink while you get ready, or one shared pre-roll on the stoop before you catch the train. A few that are in stock as of this writing (stock changes daily, so check the live menu before you come in):

• AYRLOOM Lemonade (1:1) — a single-serve cannabis lemonade with a balanced THC:CBD ratio, easy to sip while you're getting dressed and figuring out the train.
• LAYUP Peach Tea (10mg) — an iced-tea-style summer drink, one can to a serving, no measuring, no gear.
• FERNWAY Mandarin Orange (1g 510 vape) — a bright citrus vape cartridge if you'd rather a quick, self-limiting warm-up than a drink; a puff or two and you're set to go.
• A single pre-roll — the classic pre-show format because it's one-and-done, no grinding or rolling. The menu usually has New York–named options like Empire Chem (Toke Folks) or New York Sour Diesel (Fyre) when they're in stock.

Beverages and edibles are the digested formats, so they come on slower and last longer — if you go the drink route, have one and give it real time before deciding on anything else, and factor that timing into when you leave. A vape or a few draws off a pre-roll come on faster and fade sooner, which is why they suit a short warm-up. If drinks are new to you, our THC beverages guide explains what the ratios mean, and the vapes explainer covers the cartridge basics. None of this is health or dosing advice — it's just how the formats behave.

The quick rundown

• The venue: Forest Hills Stadium, a historic ~13,000-seat open-air stadium just north of Richmond Hill; season runs roughly June through October, busiest in summer.
• Get there: transit, not parking — E/F/M/R to Forest Hills–71st Avenue, or the LIRR Port Washington Branch to Forest Hills (Station Square). No parking at the venue or on the streets around it.
• Eat first: roti and Caribbean food along Jamaica and Liberty in Richmond Hill on the way, or the Austin Street restaurant row by the station.
• Time it: arrive for the light, expect a roughly 10pm finish, let the post-show train crowd thin.
• Cannabis: 21+, bought at a licensed shop, enjoyed at home before you leave — never at the venue, on the sidewalks, or on the train — with a sober driver if anyone's driving.

That's a Forest Hills Stadium night done the local way, out of Richmond Hill and back. Cannabis Cowboy is a licensed adult-use dispensary on Jamaica Avenue in Richmond Hill, Queens, serving Kew Gardens, Woodhaven and the surrounding area. Browse the live menu or stop in with a 21+ ID.