The Great Nosh is a New York picnic fantasy: a ferry ride to Governors Island; blankets unfurled on the grass; pastrami and challah rubbing elbows with flavors like kimchi and jerk seasoning, all washed down with Italian spritzes and natural wine. Presented by the Jewish Food Society, the event returns for its second iteration on June 21 with its mission to preserve and celebrate Jewish culture and culinary heritage from around the world.
The festival is the brainchild of founder Naama Shefi, author of The Jewish Holiday Table. Shefi grew up on a kibbutz in Israel, where picnicking was a near-constant communal ritual, and she wanted to recreate that sense of togetherness on a grand scale. As she has put it, Jewish culture and New York City food are so deeply intertwined that the event feels like a natural meeting point—a place to step out of daily routine and linger over good food, wine, music, and art with friends. “Last year was a tremendous success,” Shefi says. “It was a joyful day that brought together communities from all over the city and beyond. Our everyday lives are so busy, and we were thrilled to see guests really taking a moment to relax with friends and family.”
This year, based on overwhelming demand, the Jewish Food Society has doubled the festival’s capacity to 5,000 guests and expanded the programming and culinary line-up. “We are featuring even more cross-cultural collabs, inviting back a few chefs from last year, plus many new ones to join in the fun,” Shefi says.
The format is deceptively simple: a five-hour, brunch-into-late-lunch affair held on the island’s grassy “Play Lawns,” roughly a 10-minute walk from the Governors Island ferry landing. In a twist on classic food festivals, rather than simply assembling vendors, The Great Nosh commissions unexpected one-day-only collaborations between some of the city’s most beloved restaurants. “The collabs really get to the heart of this event, the intersection of the diverse communities that could only happen in NYC,” Shefi says. “Food is one of the best ways to showcase this unique aspect of life here. Each collab creates and serves something that has never been done before and that will not be available anywhere else—this is what makes the event feel very new, very now. And yet we do that by honoring century-old businesses like Katz’s and Russ & Daughters, while recognizing hotspots and creativity of the moment, like Dhamaka, Bonnie’s and Ops.”
Last year featured a corned beef roti Reuben from Thai Diner and Katz’s Delicatessen, black-and-white cookie cheesecake sandwiches from pastry chef Caroline Schiff and Junior’s, and a mashup of schnitzel and fish-and-chips dreamed up with Philadelphia’s Zahav. The 2026 lineup continues the tradition with collaborations such as Katz’s Deli x Santo Taco’s pastrami taco, Dhamaka x Moonrise Bagels’ chicken tikka-stuffed bagel, Zabar’s x Van Leeuwen’s black and white cookie sundae, Naro x Thea’s fried chicken sandwich on challah bread, Sushi Noz x Malka, and Hamburger America x Breads, among others.
Shefi is “excited to cool down with an I Cavallini passion fruit spagliato spritz, while we are looking forward to about Bonnie’s matchup with Russ & Daughters: a sesame-crusted daikon radish cake topped with creme fraiche, pastrami-cured salmon, and wild Alaskan salmon roe. Across the collabs, the point is not novelty for novelty’s sake, but a kind of edible conversation: Jewish culinary memory meeting the dynamic and wildly layered food culture of New York. “If you walk down almost any block of this city, you see the mixture of old and new, diverse communities, innovation and tradition,” Shefi says. “The collabs are emblematic of the ethos we want to recognize and celebrate.”
That spirit runs through the rest of the day, too, with programming leans into nostalgia and craft, tradition and innovation. Alongside the food vendors are cooking demos, art and craft stations, live music, and games. Guests can sip natural wine at a pop-up bar from The Four Horsemen or make jewelry at Susan Alexandra’s beading workshop. Other offerings include a miniature painting pop-up with The Jewish Museum, a flower crown activation, and even a live podcast taping. Matt Rodbard will record an episode of This is TASTE with guests Niki Russ Federman of Russ & Daughters, Mike Solomonov of Kfar Brooklyn, and Itamar Srulovich of Honey & Co., who will be joining from London.
Crowd favorite “Grandmas Tent,” will be back, hosted this year by Top Chef judge Gail Simmons and Iron Chef judge and former Food & Wine editor Nilou Motamed. The demo test concept recreates a cozy grandmother’s kitchen on the grass, where intergenerational pairs of cooks demonstrate family recipes and tell the stories behind iconic diaspora dishes such as piroshki, Moroccan pastilla, Yemenite shabbat bread jachnun and Hungarian palachinta.
The Great Nosh showcases Jewish food as inheritance, as collaborative medium, and as community cornerstone. The inaugural 2025 event drew widespread attention for its joyful, mashup-heavy approach. The result is something between a food festival, a picnic, and a block party.
“From the very beginning I’ve imagined The Great Nosh not as a festival but as a movement,” Shefi says of her ambitions for the event. “The vision is a national day that recognizes and celebrates the unique culinary and cultural contributions of Jewish heritage to the cultural fabric of our country. I think there are many ways we can do that and my hope is The Great Nosh evolves into a celebration that instills pride, encourages joy, and invites everyone to the picnic blanket!”
The one-day festival runs on Sunday, June 21. The $36 admission includes a limited-edition picnic blanket and tote bag. Outside food and drink aren’t permitted, but plenty of options are available for purchase onsite. Getting to the Great Nosh means a short, scenic ferry ride from either Lower Manhattan or Brooklyn Bridge Park, so check schedules and buy your ferry tickets in advance.
