Overview Harlem Summer Nights is a free night market under the steel arches of the 12th Avenue viaduct at West 133rd Street, and its 2026 debut put 60 kitchens on one block for seven summer nights, 30 of them a selected class of new food founders. Entry is free with an RSVP. The series is a We Eat Here project led by Marco Shalma, founder of New York Eats Here and MASC Hospitality Group, the team behind the Uptown Night Market and the Latin Food Fest; its deck puts more than 200,000 people through those festivals over ten years. The organizers bill it as part of the official Harlem Week celebration, with the West Harlem Development Corporation and Columbia University among its supporters. On site The market takes one block under the viaduct's arches in West Harlem. The organizers lay the night out as grills lit at five, a full block by half past six and a DJ carrying it after nine. In 2026 the stage ran an open mic every Friday in July and the City Love band with a rotating front line on all seven nights, with DJ Cosi through July and DJ Riddim through August. The 2026 season ran four Fridays in July and three Thursdays in August. Plates ran from Trinidadian bake-and-shark to arepas, empanadas, tacos, lobster rolls and aguas frescas, and the vendors competed through the season in the Uptown Plate Challenge. Audience The organizers describe the crowd as locals, food lovers, tourists, families and creators, filming everything. Their season wrap describes people coming off the 1 train, queuing for plates they had never heard of and going back for seconds, and 27,458 free RSVPs were claimed in 2026. The 2026 vendor class was 80% people of color and 61% women-led. Talent and Influencers The City Love band - Andre Chez Lewis, Alex Durant, Kenji Tokunaga and Julian Litwack - played every 2026 night behind a rotating set of singers, and DJs Cosi and Riddim split the season. Track record The 2026 season drew 140,000 people through seven nights with zero incidents all season. The series counted 35 million impressions and 1.1 million email opens, and New York Eats Here, its media arm, reports more than 400,000 social followers and 250,000 newsletter subscribers. Brand presence In 2026 Heineken, Red Bull, Snapple, Green Mountain Energy and amNewYork appeared on the partner wall. Partnerships are built in layers: a title partner takes the "presented by" name, category exclusivity, a custom activation zone and a keynote moment on opening night; an anchor partner brands the entrance and funds vendor scholarships; a stage partner names the stage and works with the chefs; community and supporting partners sponsor vendors. Every level includes content features across New York Eats Here's social and email channels.