- The 51st Annual Forest Park Fair is Saturday, September 26, 2026, in Forest Park — the big green space wrapped by Woodhaven, Richmond Hill and Kew Gardens. Expect craft and food vendors, live music, and family activities. Confirm the hours and the exact spot in the park on the NYC Parks event listing before you head over.
- The park is a public space, so cannabis stays sealed there. New York only permits adult-use cannabis in a private residence — not in a public park, not on the paths, not in a car on the way home. Anything you pick up is for later, at your own place.
- Shop before or after, enjoy at home. A discreet, low-dose format that packs down small — a canned THC drink, a pocketable pouch or tablet, an all-in-one vape, or a grab-and-go pre-roll — suits a long day on your feet followed by a quiet evening in.
- Where to shop: Cannabis Cowboy is a licensed New York adult-use dispensary (NY OCM-RETL-24-000068) on Jamaica Avenue in Richmond Hill, a short hop from the park's south side. Browse the live menu — stock changes daily. Bring a valid 21+ photo ID; New York's 13% cannabis tax is already in the shelf price.
Forest Park is the kind of place you forget is right here until a perfect late-September Saturday reminds you. For a lot of us in Richmond Hill and Woodhaven it's the closest thing to a real forest without leaving the borough — 500-odd acres of oak woods, ballfields, bridle paths and a bandshell, tucked between Woodhaven Boulevard and Kew Gardens. And once a year the Forest Park Fair turns a corner of it into a proper neighborhood day out.
The 51st Annual Forest Park Fair falls on Saturday, September 26, 2026. This is a local's guide to doing the day well — where to go, what's usually on, how to get there without parking drama — and, if you're 21 or older, a few low-key picks off the live menu to set aside for the evening after. One thing to settle first, because it shapes the whole plan: the fair is in a public park, and that decides where the cannabis part actually happens.
Can you use cannabis at the Forest Park Fair?
Short answer: no — not in the park. New York permits adult-use cannabis only in a private residence. A public park in the middle of a family fair is exactly where it's not allowed, and NYC's smoking rules cover cannabis the same way they cover cigarettes on park grounds. So the honest framing for this day is simple:
- In the park: keep anything you've bought sealed and put away. The fair is the outing; the cannabis isn't part of it while you're there.
- On the paths, the lawn, or a bench: still a public park, still no. There's no consumption area at a street fair.
- In the car on the way home: never — driver or passenger, even parked. That one catches people out.
- At home, later: a private residence is the only setting that fits a legal purchase. That's where the picks below belong.
What's actually going on at the fair?
The Forest Park Fair is a classic community street-fair-in-a-park: a run of vendor tents, food, music and things for kids to do, spread across an afternoon. Programming shifts year to year, but the shape of the day is dependable:
- Craft and small-business vendors — local makers, food stalls, and community and civic tables. Good browsing, and a nice way to meet the people who run things in this corner of Queens.
- Food — expect the usual fair spread plus a few Queens twists. Come hungry; this is a walk-and-eat day.
- Live music — Forest Park's bandshell and the fair have long gone together, so there's usually something playing.
- Family activities — the fair skews family-friendly, with kid-focused stops in the mix. It's a bring-the-whole-crew kind of Saturday.
Because the exact lineup, hours and the precise spot inside the park can change, check the NYC Parks event listing for the Forest Park Fair close to the date to confirm the details before you go.
What else is worth doing in Forest Park that day?
The fair is the anchor, but you can easily build a half- or full-day around it without leaving the park:
- Ride the Forest Park Carousel — a genuinely historic, city-landmarked carousel with hand-carved Daniel Muller horses, near the Woodhaven Boulevard side. A five-minute detour that's a hit with kids and a small piece of real New York history.
- Walk the trails — the park's wooded trails and bridle paths run through some of the last old oak forest in Queens. A loop before or after the fair clears the head and stretches the legs.
- Victory Field and the greens — ballfields and open lawn on the north side if your group wants to spread out, toss a ball, or just find grass to sit on.
- Golf and the Overlook — the historic Overlook and the park's public golf course sit on the Kew Gardens end if you want a longer wander.
It's an easy day to stack with the neighborhood, too — Jamaica Avenue's shops and food are a short walk south in Richmond Hill, and Woodhaven sits right on the park's western edge.
How do you get to Forest Park?
Forest Park is wrapped by several neighborhoods, so there's a route from wherever you're starting:
- By train: the J/Z runs along Jamaica Avenue on the south side — Woodhaven Blvd, 85 St–Forest Pkwy, and 104 St stations all put you a walk from the park's southern entrances. The M and the LIRR Kew Gardens stop serve the north end.
- By bus: the Q11, Q21, Q52 and Q53 run along Woodhaven Boulevard on the park's west side; the Q23 and others reach the Myrtle Avenue edge.
- By car: street parking around the park fills up fast on a fair Saturday, so give yourself time and be ready to walk a few blocks in. Main entrances are off Woodhaven Boulevard, Forest Park Drive, Myrtle Avenue and Park Lane South.
What should you pick up for the evening after?
A day on your feet at a fall fair tends to end the same way — back home, feet up, ready to wind down. If you're 21+, the formats that fit are the discreet, low-key ones that pack down small so you can grab them before or after the fair and save them for home. A few examples that are in stock as of this writing (the menu turns over daily, so check the live menu first):
- AYRLOOM Honeycrisp (2:1) — a canned, apple-forward THC drink that's about as fall-in-Queens as it gets, in a balanced THC:CBD ratio. Single-serve, no measuring, reads like any other can in the fridge.
- KUSHN pouches (Citrus or Sweet Mint, tin) or a LEVEL Protab tablet (10mg) — pocketable, low-profile edible formats. A tin or a tablet tucks into a bag on the way home and portions cleanly once you're there.
- Fernway Mandarin Orange or Stonefruit (all-in-one vape) — a self-contained pen with nothing to assemble, easy to put away for a quiet evening in.
- MAC OG (Mac Pharms, 1g) pre-roll — a grab-and-go single for later, so there's nothing to grind or roll when you finally sit down.
How do you time the shopping around the fair?
The store is a short hop from the park's south side, so you've got two easy options:
- Before the fair: swing by, pick up, drop it at home, then head to the park unencumbered. Cleanest if you're local.
- After the fair: wind down the day with a menu run on the way home. The store's on Jamaica Avenue in Richmond Hill and open until 10pm daily, so there's time after an afternoon at the park.
Either way, treat the specific products above as examples of the *format*, not a fixed shopping list — stock moves daily, so the live menu is the source of truth, and the team can point you at whatever's on the shelf that fits your evening. Cannabis Cowboy is a licensed New York adult-use dispensary on Jamaica Avenue in Richmond Hill, serving Woodhaven and the neighborhoods around Forest Park. Everything on the shelf runs through the state's tested, tracked supply chain, and the price already includes New York's 13% cannabis tax — no surprise at the register. Bring a valid 21+ photo ID, keep anything you buy sealed until you're home, and enjoy the fair.